The Next Chapter: Kisshu's Story
by animeguysaremylife
Summary: Everything has worked out for Ichigo and her friends, but what happened to the aliens after that last fateful battle? Will Kisshu, Taruto, and Pai succeed in restoring their home planet? And how will Kisshu and Taruto cope without Ichigo and Pudding?
1. Reflections

**Author's Note: HI! I AM ANIMEGUYSAREMYLIFE AND THIS IS MY FIRST FANFIC I AM SOOOO EXCITED MWAHAHAH! :D Anywayzzz, this story takes place right after the anime ends (note: this is based off of the ANIME, not the manga, so i dunno if some facts might be different from the manga or not :D). This is allll Kisshu's story, because I really think he deserves a happy ending:D. It's my first fanfic so bear with me! It's also a little sad at first so be prepared. :D I DO NOT OWN TOKYO MEW MEW OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS:D (if i did, things would have worked out MUCH differently for Kisshu, let me tell you. Let's just say that Aoyamakinz would be living the life of a hobo on the streets of Tokyo, with rats for companions and garbage for a meal...:D)**

Kisshu's Story: What Happens Next

"How long till we get there?" whined Taruto, sitting in the backseat, legs dangling over the arm of the chair.

"Still several more hours," Pai said methodically, pushing buttons and staring at the hovering flashing screen above him as he navigated the ship through space.

"Can't _I _sit in the pilot's seat and drive the ship?" Taruto wheedled.

"No," Pai said flatly.

"Why not? I think you owe me a favor! You killed me!" Taruto exclaimed.

"_Tried _to kill you," Pai corrected.

"No, you killed me, and I should still be dead!"

Kisshu sat in the chair next to Pai's, ignoring their banter as he sat, leaning his head on his hand and staring at the little blips and figures on his screen and occasionally pressing a button. His catlike gold eyes looked bored on the outside, but anyone who knew him well-which no one really did-would be able to look closely and see the conflicting emotions within, which were indeed VERY conflicting.

He should be happy. Part of him was, but the other half couldn't seem to remember that. He should be happy that Ichigo-and her friends-were alive and well. He should be happy that Deep Blue was gone and Earth was safe. He should be happy that he, Pai, and Taruto were all alive again and were heading back to their home planet in Deep Blue's spaceship, with the Mew Aqua they needed to save their people.

Part of him was very happy about all of this.

But the other part of him was filled with too many negative emotions to describe.

Pain. Pain that he would never see Ichigo again. Pain that even though she had accepted him as her friend in their final time together, she would never accept him as her love. No, that spot was filled, by that weakling Aoyama. Some of the old hate for Aoyama made Kisshu clench his fists. A lot of himself had changed in the last few days, Kisshu reflected, but he doubted his hatred of Aoyama ever would.

Besides the vast field of hurt that he felt for Ichigo, he also felt a little bit of loss at leaving Earth. The truth was, in his few months there, he had come to really like Earth. Everything there was fresh and energetic and _alive._ And though he dearly hoped that with the help of the Mew Aqua, his planet would soon be the same way, leaving Earth still left a bit of regret.

Taruto had fallen silent, and Kisshu glanced over his shoulder at him. Tart was still slumped in the chair, having lost his argument with Pai, and he was fiddling with a piece of candy wrapped up in brightly colored paper. Kissh wondered, but didn't ask.

Kisshu then looked sideways at Pai. Pai was typing on his control panel, staring straight ahead at his screen, not a trace of emotion on his face. Not that that was unusual for Pai.

Kish sighed internally. He wished they would hurry up and get to their home planet so that he could get out of this ship, move around, do things, get his mind off of Ichigo.

Ichigo…his mind played a thousand shots of her. Ichigo staring at him in horrified shot when he kissed her, the first time they met. Ichigo glaring at him in defiance and hate as they battled. Ichigo with fear in her eyes as he held her precious Aoyama captive. Ichigo looking down at him with tears in her eyes as he lay dying in her arms. And the rarest memory at all: Ichigo smiling. Not at him. No, she never smiled at him. And who could blame her? He'd been an idiot. Not that that made this any better.

He had to get up and move around. He stood up, muscles in his neck and shoulders tensed and hands balled into fists. "Taruto, you take over here," he said curtly. Taruto and even Pai looked at him curiously as he stood up and stalked through a door at the back of the room. He walked along a short hallway with a few doors leading off it until he reached the last room at the end of the hall.

The room where the Mew Aqua was being held.

He walked in and leaned against the wall, arms crossed in front of him, and looked at the black pedestal the Mew Aqua was being held on. The glowing blue orb, with pulsating lights swimming around beneath its surface, gave off a warm, happy aura. Being near it always calmed Kisshu down. He closed his eyes and breathed in the feeling, trying to focus on what was most important right now: saving his home planet. He truly was happy about that. The people of his race had been suffering for too long, and now they would finally be saved.

**Authorynoteness: Kay so there's the first chapter! Kinda depressing at first but it's gonna get more cheerful, I promise :D. PLEASE RATE AND REVIEW :D I love feedback! If I get some reviews I will add another chapter...actually I might write more either way, if I'm bored and having a Kisshu attack...  
**


	2. Landing

**HI MY LOVELY FELLOW ANIMELOVERS! I am soooo sorry it took me so long to upload this, I was out of town for a week in a terrible place with no internet! GASP! :D Anyways, thanks for all this great reviews, they were really nice and motivating! :D I hope you guys like this, it's getting a bit more cheerful and will continue to get more cheerful as chapters go on. KISSHU IS MY HEROOOO **

**OH AND I DONT OWN TOKYO MEW MEW YADDA YADDA YADDA (wish I did, its really a shame)**

CHAPTER 2: LANDING

"Kisshu! Pai says to come out here quick!"

Taruto's carrying voice startled Kisshu out of his half-asleep state. He'd been slumped against the wall in the room with the Mew Aqua, trying to keep his mind blank. He quickly rose and floated out to the main control room, brushing his hair out of his face. "What is it, Pai?"

"We're about to land," Pai answered, hands moving over the buttons in front of him even faster than before.

Kisshu moved quickly to the front of the room, where there was a window of sorts displaying the space they were traveling through. There, directly ahead of them and growing closer all the time, was Darthmyre. Kisshu's, Pai's, and Taruto's home planet. From this viewpoint, it looked gray and brown and dead, because it was. Once upon a time, it had been as green and bright and inviting as Earth, but that was long before Kisshu's people-the Contraltian's-time. Now, the Contraltians lived underground, with little food and supplies, in constant fear of the terrifying sandstorms and other weather conditions that wracked the planets surface.

Kisshu quickly moved into his position, bumping Taruto out of the chair. Taruto shot him a rude hand gesture but moved away without complaining.

As the neared the planet, Pai warned, "It's about to get rough. We're crossing through the atmospheres."

No sooner had the words left his lips than a jolt shook the ship. Taruto, who had been floating innocently in midair, flipped over and crashed into a wall. Tremors shook through the whole ship, and the cupboards behind the aliens rattled unsteadily. After a few minutes, the ship settled into a steady calm.

Kisshu stared at the landscape that was steadily rushing up towards them and taking shape and form. Craggy, bare cliffs, land devoid almost entirely of anything green, seas of sand that stretched on for miles. Strange emotions rushed through him. In everything he'd been through with Ichigo and Deep Blue and Aoyama, all the pain and hurt and betrayal there, he'd almost forgotten why he and his friends had left Darthmyre in the first place: for the people. And now they'd finally returned, with the Mew Aqua in hand.

The ship was incredibly close to the surface of the planet now, racing over mountains and cliffs and rocks, slowly losing speed as Pai prepared to land the ship. Kisshu saw that Pai was heading for the flat, vast field that lay right outside the main entrance to the underground tunnels the Contraltians colony was living in.

Pressure mounted against the spaceships frame: Kisshu and Pai were pressed back in their chairs by the force of it, and Taruto was flat against the back wall. Pai clenched the steering wheel in both hands, and called, "Hold on!" The field they were aiming for came into view at the second, and with a great bump! Kisshu felt the spaceship touch ground. Now they were racing across the surface of the planet on the spaceship's wheels, and Pai was working to slow the ship to a stop. The ship was slowing-the edge of the field, which ended in a huge wall of rock, was approaching-Taruto was cursing in fear under his breath-

The ship rolled to halt.

There was dead silence in the spaceship for a moment. Kisshu's heart was pounding, both from the excitement of their landing and the realization that they were actually back on their home planet. They had actually gotten the Mew Aqua, they had actually done it!

Taruto drew in a long shaky breath, and then yelled, "We're home!"

Even Pai cracked a smile. He jerked his head towards the window. "Look."

Kisshu and Taruto looked at where he was gesturing: the entrance to the underground tunnels. It was a black hole in the wall of rock in front of them, shielded from the elements by a large rock.

And all around the edge of the big rock, big-eared heads were peeping up, looking around in curiosity, fear, and in some cases, hope.

Their people.

**Okay! I hope you guys like it! The next chapter is gonna be VERY interesting...it involves new characters and some new love interests...AS TVLAND SAYS: DON'T TOUCH THAT REMOTE! STAY TUNED! :D **


	3. Meetings and Greetings

**HELLOOO MY DARLINGS! I am sooooo sorry (once again:D) that it took me so long to upload this! I've been busy, and I think I had a tiny case of writer's block. IT'S OVER AND DONE WITH NOW, BABY! I'M BACK! Anywayz! I hope you like the next chapter! If you see any bolded sentences surrounded by parentheses, those are my little author comments I couldn't resist making. SORRRYYY :D ANYWAYS, KISSHU FANS UNITE!**

**Don't own Tokyo Mew Mew. DANGIT  
**

CHAPTER 3: Meetings and Greetings

With a mechanic hiss, the door of the spaceship slid down and hit the ground with a bump.

Kisshu, Pai, and Taruto cautiously floated out of the ship, moving slowly so as not to alarm.

Many of the faces peaking out behind the rock disappeared, and those that remained were very, very cautious. Kisshu couldn't blame them. It'd been over a year since the day Deep Blue's presence had been sensed, since Blue had offered them a chance to live on Earth once more. Kisshu had been the first selected to go on this mission, because he was an expert swordfighter, and because he was young, healthy, and willing. Deep Blue had later gone back to get Pai and Taruto when Kisshu had been unsuccessful in defeating the Mew Mews. At any rate, the Contraltians hadn't had any news from Kish, Pai, and Tart for a while, so no wonder they were nervous.

Kisshu, Pai, and Taruto slowly hovered closer, just a bit. Before they could say anything, a shout echoed forth.

"Kisshu! Pai! Taruto! Is that you?"

One gruff alien pushed his way to the front of the little crowd hovering around the tunnels entrance. He limped out into the open and stared at the returned group with calculating eyes, leaning on a carved staff. Kisshu permitted himself a wry smile. Good. So Kaybler was still around.

Kaybler was the leader of the Contraltians. He was a gruff, wizened man, very smart and dependable, but a little rough around the edges. He'd been their leader as long as Kisshu could remember. Long ago, Kaybler had been trapped outside the caves during one of the wicked sandstorms, and had been attacked by a lone, starving wild wolf. He'd survived, but his back and leg had been badly injured. When his back had been injured, the luminescent sensors that ran up and down an alien's spine and allowed them to fly had been damaged, and Kaybler had ever since been forced to limp around on his crippled leg.

Instead of weakening Kaybler, the experience had appeared to make him stronger. He was tough and never backed down, and he was the perfect leader for the hard times the Contraltians lived in.

Kisshu called out, "It's us, Kaybler-san."

Kaybler's sun-baked face cracked in a wide grin as he recognized Kisshu's voice. Limping forward, he exclaimed, "Kisshu, Pai, Taruto! You're back!" He called back over his shoulder to the aliens hovering nervously. "It's alright, people. It's definitely them."

At this, the curious people began to slowly float out around the entrance…and then, in a big burst, many of them surged out and forward, wanting to see the returned people. They crowded around Kisshu's group, smiling and laughing and hugging and asking questions. Kisshu, Pai, and Taruto, as you can imagine, were not overly thrilled at being hugged-they are kinda no-touchy (**except for that perverted Kisshu when it comes to Ichigo!**)- but they understood their peoples excitement. Family members of Pai and Taruto-Pai's brothers, Taruto's mother-crowded around them, exclaiming with relief, and Kisshu felt a little hollow spot deep inside. He pushed the thought away.

Kisshu felt his face grew solemn as he saw the condition his people were in. In his time away, he'd forgotten just how badly off they'd been. The people's faces were thin and gaunt, very many dirty, clothing in tatters, and so many eyes haunted by suffering.

Kaybler managed to make his way forward to the front of the crowd. He gave each of the returned aliens a rough pat on the shoulder and growled, "So you're back, eh? And what news have you for us from Deep Blue-sama?"

The crowd grew silent, waiting for the answer. Kisshu glanced at Pai. Pai hesitated, then nodded at Kisshu.

Kisshu said slowly, "Deep Blue….was not who we thought he was." He paused, unsure how to go on. "His motives were not to help us, as we thought."

Kisshu could literally _feel _the atmosphere around him change. Faces that had a moment ago been excited, hopeful, joyful-had abruptly fallen to disappointed, despairing, defeated. (**HEY THEY ALL STARTED WITH D)**

Kaybler let out a sigh. Then his eyes turned shrewd. "What do you mean, 'was', Kisshu-kun?"

"He's dead." Kisshu said harshly.

Kaybler sighed again. "Sounds like you've got quite a lot to share, eh, Kisshu-kun? We might as well go inside."

"Wait," Kisshu said. Then he smiled, feeling real happiness. "Don't give up hope yet, Kaybler-san, everyone. Deep Blue is gone, but we've got something else." He turned and nodded to Taruto. Tart then flew back into the ship.

"What's going on, Kisshu-kun?" Kaybler rumbled.

Kisshu smirked. "Just wait."

Taruto came flying back out, excitement written in his amber eyes. He was holding the orb of Mew Aqua close to his chest. He handed it to Kisshu.

Kisshu bounced it in his palm, feeling the warmth, the rush of good feelings that spread out of it. Kaybler and the others were staring at the Aqua with open awe, affected by it also.

Kisshu opened his mouth to speak, to explain, but before he could, an unfamiliar, dazed voice called out.

"Is that…Mew Aqua?"

Out of the crowd of people surrounding them, one alien girl drifted forward.

Kisshu-alone with Pai and Taruto-stared at her. She looked to be about Kisshu's age, Kisshu thought, maybe a little bit younger. She was rather short and slender, with long hair of a deep violet color, which was pulled back into an intricate braid hanging over her shoulder almost to her waist. Her ears were as large as any alien's, and she wore a sort of gray tunic, with the accompanying arm bands and lace-up boots. Her eyes, however, were what caught attention. They were large and silver, and very bright and deep, with a knowing, intelligent, worldly look to them.

Kisshu and his friends didn't really notice much of this at the time. How did she-whoever she was-know about the Mew Aqua? So far as they knew, the substance existed on no other planet besides Earth.

Finally, Taruto spoke. "How do you know that?"

The girl looked puzzled. She cocked her head to the side a bit and pursed her lips. After a moment or so, she said, sounding confused, "I'm not sure. I just…know."

**SOOOOO yaaa! I hope you guys liked that! BY THE WAY...I know that in theory, there would probably be no kind of honorific terms on Kisshu's planet...that's really just a Japanese thing, as far as I know...but I really like the honorific thing, so I'm keeping it anyway. :D**

**Keep reviewing, as always, you know I love 'em! And thanks to those who have been reviewing, they give me soooo much excitement! I will try to have the next chappie up as quickly as possible!**

**Kisshu: YOU SAID THAT LAST TIME**

**ME: SHUT UP, YOU, OR ITS BACK IN THE CLOSET**

**:D Ignore that! LOVE YOU READERS! ...if i have any...LOL good times  
**


	4. Healing

**Hellooooo! Okay, I guess we can just accept that I'm not a fast uploader. I will keep trying, though! Bear with me, dear readers! Teehee!**

**FUN FACT: I was trying to decide what to name the leader of the aliens, and I was thinking about how all of the aliens we'd met thus far had desert-related names! Kisshu-quiche, Pai-pie, Taruto-Tart, and the first desert that popped in my head was Cobbler! AND THUS-KAYBLER WAS BORN.**

**Anyways, this chappie isn't too long, but it's pretty exciting, so I hope you guyssssss likes it! I don't own Tokyo Mew Mew, tragically!**

**BTWWWWWWWWWW I know the whole Kisshu-and-writer-arguing-with-each-other-in-the-intro/outro thing is a tad overdone, but its just so durn fun, so Imma do it anyway! :D YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT KISSHU?**

**Kisshu: You're crazy...**

**DARN RIGHT I AM! ON WITH THE STORY!  
**

Chapter 4;

Kaybler asked the girl, "Searadesi-chan, is it one of your feelings again?"

(**PRONUNCIATION: sear-uh-dess-ee*tad long, but i'm planning to shorten it lata*)**

The girl nodded, looking far away. Kaybler explained to Kisshu and his friends, "Searadesi-chan has lately been having feelings-even visions-about things. We aren't quite sure what to make of it." He looked at Pai. "Perhaps, Pai-kun, you could look into it later?" It was well known that Pai was one of the most intelligent in the village.

Pai nodded. Kisshu looked at Searadesi for a moment longer, then turned back to the crowd in general.

"Well, yes, this is Mew Aqua. It is a substance found only on earth that has the power to heal. It's a very long story, and we'll explain it all soon, but in short, this substance is going to restore our planet."

And there it was again. On every face, hope, shining out and illuminating the air.

Pai broke in, "Kisshu, you'd better hurry. A storm is coming."

Kisshu looked up at the sky and saw that Pai was right. The sky was very dark, and growing darker by the second. Thunder crackled in the distance, louder than would ever be heard on Earth.

Pai, Kish, and Tart formed a circle. The crowd of people, curious and interested but also slightly apprehensive, backed up just a little.

Kisshu stared at the Mew Aqua in his hand. If this didn't work….well, they had gone through a lot of trouble for nothing.

He placed the Aqua on the ground in the middle of their circle. He glanced at Pai anxiously. "Uh-are we supposed to be doing something here?"

Pai shook his head. "When Ichigo used the Mew Aqua, she just did all that flying bubble wand stuff for fun. There wasn't really any need. Just wait, and concentrate on what you want the Aqua to do.." Kisshu shook off the mention of Ichigo and focused on the Mew Aqua. He thought about how desperately he wanted their planet to be restored, to be livable again.

At first, nothing seemed to happen. But, every so slowly, the Mew Aqua started to glow more brightly. It was shining with intense light, and it eventually grew so intense that Kisshu couldn't look at it anymore; it was hurting his eyes. Then, the ground started to shake. It was possible it was just one of the planet's frequent earthquakes, but Kisshu had a feeling it was something more. The storm was growing closer and darker every second, and lightning touched ground in the distance. Kish was afraid they wouldn't be able to heal the planet in time, but just as the thought crossed his mind the tremors that were shaking the planet intensified. A huge jolt shook through the ground, and Kisshu staggered a bit, almost thrown over. There were cries of fear from his people. Finally, there was a magnificent flash of light. Kisshu gasped and put his hands over his eyes: the light had seared into him, running through his whole body, burning. He almost screamed, the pain was so intense. But then it faded, as quickly as it had started. There had initially been screams at the flash of light, but now there was only silence, a thick, heavy silence that seemed to float to the ground and settle there, like dust after a sandstorm.

Kisshu slowly opened his eyes, afraid of what he might see. At first, he couldn't see anything; his eyes were still blinded from the light. But slowly, his vision started to return. As he looked around, he almost fell to his knees in awe.

The planet was healed. The ground, which had only moments before been brown and hard and lifeless, was covered with a layer of fresh, dark soil, out of which tiny green shoots of grass were poking. Slender brown saplings were scattered everywhere, young and fragile, but they would grow. The sky was a bright, glorious blue, and the sun shone as if it would never stop. A light breeze caressed Kisshu's face, and he heard a sound he had never before heard on his planet: birds chirping. There was a faint hum as a bumblebee floated close to his ear. He turned his head to look at the squirrel darting behind one of the mini trees.

The world was reborn.

And so was Kisshu.

He could feel it now. He felt different. The heartache in his soul that had been present for nearly as long as he could remember-since he was just a boy and had been faced with the loss of his parents, since he had gone to Earth and met Ichigo, since she had rejected him-it was gone. He was new. He was the same Kisshu, but he was also a new one. That light that had seared through him, had seared through everyone, had seared through the planet, had not only healed his planet, it had healed him.

**Kisshu: I don't want to be healed! I want to go back to Ichigo!**

**Since when do you get a say in the story, BUB? IM RUNNING THIS SHOW! *Cackle***

**R&R DEAR DARLINGSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS**

**P.S. I have been informed by a very kind reviewer that the aliens actually have a name, the Cyniclons! He/she also told me a planet's name, I believe, but I forgot...anyways, I'd heard of the Cyniclons but I thought that was just a Mew Mew Power add-on! NEVER TRUST ENGLISH VERSIONS OF MANGAS, IN MY HUMBLE OPINION. So yeah, I'm sticking with my original names, but I appreciate the point out! And sorry for that little confuzzlation!  
**


	5. Explorations

**Helllloooo my lovelies! So, I know it has been a ridiculously long time since I've updated. GOMENESAI! (yeah, I like to pretend I can speak Japanese :D) I have no excuses! But this one is a fairly long one, so I hope it partially makes up for it.:D **

**I DON'T OWN TMMMMMMMMMMMM *tear*  
**

Chapter 5:

Only now did Kisshu hear the sounds of his people around him.

Turning his head, he watched the people. Some were on their knees, staring around in awe. Many were crying. A few children had started to whoop and shout joyfully. After a moment or two, the tension broke and people began to smile, laugh, shout, and run around in the newly reformed surface of the world.

The girl, the girl with the strange visions, however, looked straight at Kisshu with her big silver eyes filled with tears and wonder. "It's all just as I saw it," Searadesi whispered.

Kisshu stared at her. Did she really have psychic sight, then? Pai would have to check into it. After a short pause, he smiled at her, that cocky, mischievous half smile with his fang poking out. He hadn't smiled like that in a while. He felt almost like his old self.

Taruto shouted, "It worked!" He flew up and punched his fist in the air victoriously. Even Pai was smiling.

Kaybler turned to look at the group of returned aliens with a rough grin on his face. "Looks like you really did it, then."

Kisshu smiled again. He hadn't felt this exhilarated in who knew how long.

After the initial excitement had worn off just a tad, Kaybler started taking charge. There were, after all, many things that needed to be done in a new world, and as there were still many hours of daylight left, Kaybler wanted to get things done. He had always been like that.

Kisshu volunteered to go with a group to explore the surrounding area, see what kind of plants were growing, what food sources there were, what kind of animals, etc. Kaybler probably would have let him stay at the caves and rest up, but honestly, Kisshu was incredibly curious about everything.

He was in a group with Taruto, a medicine woman named Reeza, a pair of young brothers, and the vision girl, Searadesi.

Kisshu had a fond, almost motherly relationship with Reeza. When his parents had died and he had been injured in that storm, so long ago, Reeza had nursed him back to health, and calmed his fears. He had only been ten. When Kisshu had reunited with Reeza, she had embraced him and patted his cheek, saying, "So you're back, eh, hon?"

Kisshu had really missed the closest person he had to a parent.

"Oohwah! The air feels so good!" Taruto exclaimed, stretching his arms as they walked along. Tart looked around, eyes lingering on the trees and grass. "You know, this reminds me a lot of Earth," he remarked to Kisshu.

Kisshu considered, then nodded. "Yeah," he agreed.

The younger brother, a young man by the name of Benji, asked, "What's Earth like?"

"It's…well, it's…" Taruto looked at Kisshu, unsure where to start.

Kisshu cocked his head. "Hmm…well, parts of it look a lot like this," he gestured around him, "but those are getting more rare on Earth. A lot of Earth is many buildings and roads all grouped together. Oh, and cars."

Benji's brother, Marzac, asked, "What's a car?"

That one stumped Kisshu. How to explain? "Well, um…."

Suddenly, Searadesi, who had been looking around at the trees silently, snapped her head to the side and stopped. Her eyes were focused on something no one else could see. "Something's coming," she said, sounding frightened.

Almost immediately after she'd said this, there was a loud rustling in the trees and bushes Searadesi was staring at. Everyone backed away, and Kisshu automatically moved to stand in front of everyone else.

Out of the bushes emerged a large, hulking creature covered in black fur. It walked out on four legs, but when it saw them, it rose up to stand on it's hind legs. It bared sharp, menacing teeth.

Everyone was frozen. "Kisshu," Tart whispered. "It looks like a bear."

Tart was right. It looked a lot like a bear from Earth, but it was bigger and had a longer tail, and it seemed to have longer teeth. Bear or not, Kisshu didn't really want it anywhere near them.

Kisshu's Sais-his dragon swords-appeared in his hands. He held them up and shouted, "Oy! Get out of here." The bear creature simply looked at him and growled. Kisshu brandished his Sais. "Leave!" The creature backed up a little bit. Kisshu floated forward more and raised his Sais high and yelled. With a final roar, the bear creature turned and fled.

Kisshu's Sais disappeared. He relaxed and turned back to his group. They looked a tad shaken up. "It's okay," Kish said, not wanting anyone to have a panic attack. "Whatever that thing was is all bark and no bite."

Everyone other than Taruto stared at him. "Whaaaatttt?"

Kisshu smacked his forehead. "Earth phrase." He waved his hand forward. "Moving on, moving on."

Shrugging, Marzac started to lead the way, and Benji, Reeza, and Taruto followed him. Searadesi, however wasn't moving. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her hands were pressed to her temples. She was stark white. Had the bear-creature really scared her that much? Most people who'd lived on this planet were used to frightening things….

Kisshu hesitated, then touched her shoulder. "Hey. Are you okay?"

Searadesi let out a breath. "Yeah, sorry. It's just…these visions. They are so…confusing. They make my head hurt, when they come in a big rush like that." She began walking again. Kisshu walked beside her, wanting to make sure she didn't lag behind without them realizing it. He was also a little fascinated by her visions.

"When did they start?" he asked curiously.

She shrugged. "Not long ago. Couple months, maybe. It started with just feelings about things, feelings that I could almost pass off as intuition. But after a while, I could tell it was more."

"What are they like?"

Searadesi shrugged again, looking away from Kisshu. She hugged her arms to herself defensively. "They can be really interesting and helpful….but lately they haven't been too fun," she said in a low voice. Her tone made it clear she was done talking about it.

Kisshu felt a strange sense of shame. Now she seemed mad at him. He nudged her gently. "Sorry. Didn't mean to be nosy. Don't worry, we'll have Pai look into it. If he can't figure it out, no one can."

She smiled a bit. "Thanks."

They walked on, but Kisshu felt odd. Why did he care if he'd upset her? He hadn't cared about anyone else, besides his people and Ichigo, in a long, long time. Ichigo…and suddenly, the walk in the woods that had been feeling calm, interesting, even peaceful, felt a little darker. Because now he was thinking about Ichigo.

**So, thoughts? Reviews? Is Kisshu too off character? I'm having trouble with that...I'm trying to make him be sad about Ichigo but happy about his planet but being a better person while still being KISSHU. It's hard, because Kisshu's biggest defining characteristic was his obsession with Ichigo, and without her around I don't know how to make Kish act. She might show up later though...hmm...**

**ON THAT NOTE! Please review, my darlings. They motivate me more than anything. :D I also have a survey question for you: What's your favorite anime/manga and character in said manga? Just out of curiousity. Thank you dearies.**

***WEDDING BELLS* I march down the aisle!**

**Kisshu (at the altar): WHAT? how did I get here in this tux?**

**Me: Mwahaha...a little instrument called Duct Tape...  
**


	6. Developing

**Hello dear anime-obsessed brethren! lookit, lookit, I actually got another chapter up within, like, a DAY of the last one! That's gotta be a record for me! *APPLAUSE AND CONFETTI* weehee! Anyways, enough of my ramblings, here's the story**

**Me don't own TMM**

Chapter 6:

"When exactly did the visions start?" Pai asked.

Searadesi sighed. "A couple of months ago was when the feelings started, and the actual visions started soon after that."

Kisshu felt a little bad for her. They were in the cave systems, in the big, wide, gathering room, sitting at stone tables, having just finished with a hearty meal gathered on their exploration. They had found enough food for everyone in the community. Looking around him, Kisshu was amazed at how much healthier and vibrant everyone already seemed. Kaybler was planning on having them scope out sights for their new village tomorrow, so they could start building it as soon as possible. Now that the outside world was healed, there was no need for them to live underground any longer. Kaybler sure gets things done fast, Kisshu reflected.

Now, Pai was asking Searadesi roughly the exact same questions about her visions that Kisshu had asked her earlier, albeit in a more technical, intelligent way. Searadesi appeared stressed.

Pai thought about her answer. "And you can think of no change that occurred around the same time that could have caused this?"

Searadesi shrugged. "I was too caught up in Deep Blue coming and you guys leaving and everything to really notice a lot of what else was going on at the time. "

Pai frowned. "Deep Blue coming...hmm. Searadesi-san, would you mind terribly if I took a tiny sample of your blood? I would like to run some tests on it."

Searadesi looked surprised. "My...blood? Okay...right now?" Pai nodded, and took out a little card of paper and a tiny needle. He pricked Searadesi's finger, and held the card of paper under it as a tiny bead of crimson blood squeezed out. Kisshu just KNEW he'd learned that technique from Earth. Pai sealed the card in a protective bag and pocketed it, thanking Searadesi. Almost immediately after this was done, he left, to do the tests on it, Kisshu supposed. But if it were only that, why did Pai look so grim and anxious?

Searadesi had noticed it too. "Is he always like that?" she asked Kisshu.

Kisshu grinned in spite of himself. "Pretty much, yeah."

Searadesi laughed and said, "You know, you and I never really got introduced to each properly. I'm Searadesi." She held out her hand (the one that hadn't had blood drawn from it).

Kisshu said, "I'm Kisshu." He held out his hand and laid it against Searadesi's in the traditional Contraltian handshake of respect. Her palm was warm. He pulled away a bit too quickly, feeling uncomfortable. He looked away, and noticed Taruto sitting with his family, laughing and chatting. He felt a little lonely for a moment.

Searadesi had followed his gaze. "Do you...do you not have family around, Kisshu-kun?" Her tone was quiet and sympathetic.

Kisshu leveled his eyes at her and simply nodded, once, not wanting to enter into this subject at all.

Her voice was very soft when she answered. "Me neither." She did not press him to talk about it, and Kisshu wondered if she actually understood how he felt.

At that moment, Kisshu heard Kaybler's voice. Kaybler was standing up in the midst of the tables of happy, rejoicing aliens, calling for attention. "Alright everyone, settle down! Now, I know it's been a very exciting day, but tomorrow we need to get up bright and early too start rebuilding our village!" A mixture of cheers at the idea of getting a village outside again and groans at getting up early filled the air. Kaybler batted his hand at the people. "Don't give me none of that." There were titters. "Now, everyone, I'd like us all once more to give a big thank you to the people we owe everything to, Kisshu, Pai, and Taruto!" There was a great wave of applause, and everyone in the room looked at Kisshu and Taruto, cheering and clapping. Kisshu felt his cheeks grow warm, and without looking he knew Taruto would be bright red. Kish gave a half-hearted wave, hoping to fade away from the center of attention. Somehow, he had a feeling Kaybler was doing this just to tease him and Tart. Searadesi smirked at him just a little bit. "You're not one for attention, are you?" she whispered. He gave her a look that clearly said, _Does it look like I am?_ She smiled.

Kisshu also felt slightly uncomfortable because, even if their actions had been for the good of the people, he, Pai, and Taruto had not been acting at all admirably for a while. They had been following Deep Blue's every order, fighting and injuring innocent Earthlings and even turning on one another, not to mention what they'd done to the Mew Mews….

"Alright, thank you!" Kaybler called. "Now, I want everyone to bed early tonight, because tomorrow's going to be a long day!" There were more groans, but after a minute or two people began to obediently shuffle off to their rooms. Everyone respected Kaybler to the highest degree.

Kisshu, personally, felt absolutely exhausted. It had been an extremely long day. Was it possible, was it really possible, that just the day before yesterday had been the final battle between Deep Blue and the Mew Mews? Was it really possible that just the day before yesterday, all three of them, Pai, Tart, and Kisshu, had _died, _but had been brought back by the strength of Ichigo's power?

He shook off those heavy thoughts and focused on his surroundings. Searadesi was standing up, about to leave herself. Kisshu stood up too. There were three main tunnels branching off of the main cavern, each leading to a network of personal spaces for separate families.

Searadesi smiled at him, her big silver eyes flickering in the light of the big bonfire in the middle of the cavern. "See you, Kisshu-kun."

Kisshu smirked. "Bye-bye, Searadesi-chan." He slipped into the more personal use of _chan _instead of _san _without even thinking about it.

Searadesi walked off towards the northern tunnel, while Kisshu turned to go towards the Southwestern one. People patted him on the arm and back as he went, bidding him good night and offering their thanks, which Kisshu still felt he did not deserve. He merely smiled at them all as he walked down the tunnel, which had a low ceiling and was dimly lit with torches placed on the walls at intervals. He passed many doorways until he finally reached the room that had been his ever since his parents had died.

The room looked the same as ever. Small, with one worn pallet in a corner. There was little furniture, except for a small squat table upon which rested two of his most personal belongings-the stone dagger that had been his fathers, and the carved set of reed pipes that had belonged to his mother. Besides those things, and a small, neatly folded pile of clothing in a corner, the room was bare. It looked like someone had been in to clean since last Kisshu had been there.

Kisshu blew out the torch that hung from the ceiling-every occupied room had one lit every day. He kicked off his boots, pulled the ties out of his hair, unwrapped his armbands, and finally, collapsed on the pallet, pulled the blanket over him, and fell into a deep, soothing sleep.

**SOOO good times! Please review, and remember, I still want my survey question answered! The question is: What is your favorite anime/manga and character in that manga? Thanks, its just a me-being-curious question! Please also tell me your thoughts on Kisshu's character, cuz I still don't know if he's OC! Thanks for the reviews!**

**Kisshu (from inside my closet): LET ME OUT OF HERE! I DID NOT MARRY YOU!**

**Me: Oh, Kish, you say the silliest things! Now just wait, your dinner will be ready any moment now! **

** Kisshu: ANYTHING MADE BY YOU IS INEDIBLE**

**Me: GASP! WELL THEN  
**


	7. Fawning!

**Hello my honeybunches of oats! It's been a while since I've updated-please don't hate me! I've had a request for more Pai and Tart in the story-MEAM-neko n.n, I hope this satisfies you! There's lots more Tart in this one, Pai will show up more later!**

**I do not own TMM, and if I did I would reign supreme over Tokyo with Kisshu by my side!  
**

Chapter 7: Fawning!

"Wake up, Kisshu."

Kisshu shifted in his sleep, too lost in a warm, comfortable world to respond to the voice tugging at his consciousness.

"Kisshu, wake up."

Kisshu didn't move.

"Kisshu!" Someone shook his shoulder roughly. He batted the hand away automatically.

There was a sigh. "Alright, you asked for it." The voice now held an undertone of menace.

Kisshu heard the faint shimmery sound in the air that meant someone was transporting away, then silence. He drifted.

There was the shimmery sound again, and before Kisshu's half asleep mind could register it, a wave of icy cold water splashed over him.

Kisshu sat bold upright, sputtering. "TARUTO!"

Tart hovered in the air, smirking at him. "Good morning, sunshine!"

Kisshu glared at him. "You little..."

Tart grinned. "Kaybler wants everyone up."

Kisshu threw off his blanket and stood up. "You could have just told me that instead of dousing me!" he complained, pulling on his boots.

Tart smiled evilly. "Yeah, well, this was more fun!"

A few minutes later, Kisshu was dressed and ready, though perhaps a little wetter than he would normally hope for. He and Tart headed up to the main cavern together, Kisshu still aiming idle threats at Taruto. The cave was filled; everyone was there, positively buzzing with excitement. A few women, including Reeza, were serving breakfast at a table, and Taruto and Kisshu automatically went to that table (**manly men need their food!) **As they ate, Kaybler stood up and called out, "Alright, everyone, as soon as we're all done eating, we want every able-bodied person who can get away to come outside. We are going to split into teams and do a little more exploring today. We need everyone who can help, please!"

He didn't really have to call for help; everyone was eager to get outside again, Kisshu observed. His people had been trapped in these caves too long.

Kisshu's exploration party included Taruto, Pai, Marzac, a few girls he didn't know well, and a strong, grizzled looking man who hadn't said much. They were east of the cave system and into the forest. Several other exploration parties had headed in different directions.

Kisshu had everything the village needed mapped out in his mind: A source of water, good soil, good resources, and hopefully a lack of dangerous creatures. So far, they hadn't found a place that fit the bill.

However, he was a tad distracted. He and Taruto were being fawned over.

"Taruto-sama, what was your favorite part about being on Earth?" the slim girl with the red hair-Kisshu thought her name was Vivia-asked, giggling a looked a little at loss. The three were girls were hovering close to him and Kisshu, laughing at everything they said and tossing their hair at every opportunity. "I don't know...the food?"

Vivia laughed loudly. "Oh, Taruto-sama, you're so funny!" Tart looked confused.

"What about you, Kisshu-sama?" Terian, the pale blond-haired one, asked him, smiling sweetly. Sama? Kisshu could get used to being called that, but he was getting a bit irritated with the girls. He sort of understood their reasons for acting that way-they saw him and Tart as heroes, saving the planet-but they were on a mission, for gosh's sakes!

Kisshu got an idea. "Hmm, I don't know. Pai, why don't you help me out with that one?" He grabbed Pai, who had been walking behind them a bit, and pulled him into their little group.

Pai gave the girls his best glare, which was, well, terrifying. The girls stared at him for a moment, then scattered. Kisshu glimpsed one hiding behind Marzac, who looked like he thought it was his lucky day.

Kisshu grinned. "Thanks, Pai."

Pai sighed. "Glad to be of assistance." He walked ahead, going back to the electronic device he'd been holding.

"Well, that was weird," Taruto said, still looking dazed by the random fangirl attack (**it's just like what would happen if Tart and Kissh came out in real life!**).

Kisshu grinned. "Get used to it, kid. You're a real lady's man!" He elbowed Tart, getting him back for their little water episode that morning.

"Yeah..." Tart, for some reason, rather than replying with a snappy comeback, looked thoughtful, and a little sad. He was quiet for a while. Kisshu let him think, looking around as they walked through the woods. Eventually, Tart said quietly, "Kisshu, do you think we'll ever go back to Earth?"

Kisshu froze up inside. "Um, why do you ask?"

Tart shrugged a shoulder. "I dpn't know...I...I miss it there...a little bit."

Kisshu thought he knew what was going on. "Yeah, I do too, sometimes...I don't know if we'll ever go back. It's a long ways away..."

Tart sighed. Kisshu wasn't sure if he should bring his suspicion up. He went with his instinct. "Tart, do you miss Pudding?"

This time Tart froze. Kisshu could see him considering whether to laugh it off and pretend he had no idea what Kisshu was talking about, but eventually he gave in. "Yeah, I do."

Kisshu kind of hoped that would be the end of that conversation, because he didn't really want to talk about Earth any more, but Tart had more to say. "I miss her. But not just her. I kind of miss fighting the Mew Mews, honestly. It was bad, but it was sort of fun sometimes, even if they always beat us. I miss all the Mew Mews. I even sort of miss that old lady hag Ichigo."

Kisshu grimaced. Tart saw it, and said quickly, "Sorry. We don't have to talk about that."

"No, it's fine," Kisshu said quietly. Talking about Ichigo hurt, but it also felt sort of good to let it out. "I miss 'em too, Tart."

He missed Earth, he missed the Mew Mews, he missed Ichigo, he missed Pudding, he missed that blue one who never stopped drinking tea and the nice green one and the purple one who never talked...he even missed their blond leader with his weird outfits and the dark haired leader who liked to cook...He missed tormenting Ichigo-it was just so durn much fun!- and devising new ways to beat her, even if they never worked. It was still fun to try, and to get to see her defeat the Chimeras, see her almost lose but never give up, always come back and win with the power of her belief...he missed it all. He missed Earth.

He couldn't bring himself to miss Aoyama, though. Him, Kisshu could live without.

**So can I, Kisshu...so can I!**

**AKA I HATE AOYAMA WITH A BURNING PASSION! WHO'S WITH ME?  
**


	8. Mutations

**Hey my honey-bunches of oats! Thank you soooo much for reviewing, you have no idea how much it means to me! Every time that I see I have a review, I want to cartwheel in joy! I would, except for the tiny fact that I don't know how to do a cartwheel...T.T...**

** ANYWAY SAPPY TIME OVER! Here's Chapter Eight, I don't own anything, blah blah, READDDDD  
**

Chapter 8:Mutations

By the end of the day, they had found the perfect spot for their new village. It was a couple of miles away from the cave system, in a wide, open field with a stream running right through it. Far off to one side of the field the forest began, so the people would have no trouble getting wood and food from the forest. The area was ready to go: construction on it would begin as soon as possible. Building materials-wood, stone, etc.-had already been moved into the area, and were merely waiting to be put together.

Now, Kisshu sat at a table in the main hall of the cave system, finishing up dinner. It had been a good, productive day. He was falling back into the rhythm of working with his people-even in the old days, when things had been very dark, Kaybler had always been working for the people to improve their lives. Now, Kisshu was back in the familiar pattern of working with people just like him, all striving towards the same common goal. It was something he could never quite have had on Earth.

Kish was jerked from his daze when Pai sat next to him and said, "Kisshu, I need to talk to you...and Searadesi."

Kisshu looked at him in surprise. Pai looked serious-well, that wasn't unusual for Pai, but he looked more so than usual. "What about, Pai?"

"Her visions."

That got Kisshu's attention. He had been wondering about the visions himself. "Okay, where is she?"

"Over there," Pai answered. Kisshu looked in the direction he'd pointed and saw Searadesi sitting alone, looking preoccupied. He waved at her, and she looked up. After a moment, she stood up and made her way to their table. Kisshu noticed her wipe at her cheek hurriedly as she walked, and he wondered if she'd been crying.

"Hi," Searadesi said, sitting down across from Pai and Kish. Kisshu and Pai greeted her, and then Kisshu said, "Pai wants to talk to us about your...visions."

Searadesi looked at Pai intently with those humongous silver eyes. "Have you found something out?"

"Yes..." Pai seemed reluctant to speak, even though he'd been the one to broach the subject. "I ran some tests on your blood and looked a few things up. I think..." he trailed off.

"What? What do you think?" Searadesi asked sharply, looking strained.

Pai sighed and looked her. "You said that the visions started a couple of months ago, around the time Deep Blue came to us," he stated.

"Yes," Searadesi confirmed.

Pai sighed again. "It is my belief that when Deep Blue came to us, some of the Mew Aqua in his body was permeated into the villagers...and it has started to mutate them."

Kisshu and Searadesi stared at Pai, shocked. Mew Aqua again? Mutating villagers? Kisshu felt like screaming. He'd thought all of their trouble with Deep Blue was finally over.

"M-mutate them?" Searadesi forced out. "My...visions?"

"Yes," Pai answered. "It may just be you...but it seems unlikely. So far, you are the only one."

"Wait, mutate how, exactly? With...the power of foresight?" Kisshu asked.

Pai said, "It's possible that the Mew Aqua affected only Searadesi with that particular power. It could be anything. We just don't know yet."

Searadesi asked quickly, "Am I still mutating? Is it going to get worse?"

Pai hesitated. "I don't know. This is...a very rare situation. I have no idea how it's going to play out."

Searadesi looked pale and clammy. Kisshu, remembering how upset she had been before while simply TALKING about the visions, could imagine how she was feeling now, knowing they might become even more intense, or worse. He reached out and patted her hand. "Hey, it's going to be okay. Pai's practically a genius, he'll get you through this."

Pai raised an eyebrow at him. "Practically?"

Kisshu rolled his eyes. "Fine, you ARE a genius. You get my point."

Searadesi smiled slightly, though she didn't look like she was really listening. "Pai-kun, what exactly IS Mew Aqua? I have a general idea, but I want to understand it completely."

Pai looked at her slowly, then said, "It is the purest possible form of water, without a single combating element. It possesses great power to heal, create, transform, and in some cases, destroy. There is no other substance like it in the world."

Searadesi nodded slowly, still looking worried and upset. Pai, looking unsure of what else to say, said, "I'm going to go tell Kaybler-san the news." He stood up and walked away.

Kisshu felt awkward. Searadesi had looked sad when she walked over to them, and she looked worse now. Kisshu wondered exactly what had gone on her life to make her look so lonely now. He wanted to help her.

"Hey," he said gently, "Searadesi-chan. It really will be okay. Pai knows what he's doing."

Searadesi looked up and smiled a real smile at him this time. "Okay. Thank you, Kisshu-kun."

On impulse, Kisshu put his hand on her shoulder and said, "Call me Kisshu, Shirubaaizu-Chan." Shirubaaizu meant "Silver Eyes."

Searadesi looked surprised, but not displeased. She smiled.

Later, after he had said good-night to her, Kisshu walked away with a very strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. He wondered about it, but he didn't understand it, so he decided to put it from his mind for now.

**Update 10/31/10: Hey guys! Just wanted to let you know that National Novel Writing Month is starting November 1st, so I probably won't be updating for a while. I apologize, and I'll try to have the next chapter up as soon as possible! In the meantime, R&R and Happy Halloween! **


	9. Reeling

**Hello darlings! I must apologize PROFUSELY for the extreeeemeeeelyyyyyy long gap between chapters here. I said it would be because of National Novel Writing Month, but I really have no excuse, because I failed DISMALLY at NaNoWriMo! I apologize! *bow* This chapter is sorta turmoil-ish, so I hope it makes up for my uncoolness! **

Chapter 8:

All around him bustled activity. People walked past maneuvering felled trees and slabs of wood. He could hear Kaybler shouting order. The constant sound of the pounding of nails filled the clearing.

Building had begun.

They made wonderful progress that day. They had decided that to start with, they were going to build big buildings and divide them into sections, and several families would live in each building-at least for the time being. With everyone in the village helping out, the work was going fast-the first building was well on its way.

Later that night, the whole village had a bonfire. It would be, Kaybler had decided, a good opportunity for the people of the village to relax a bit, get some fresh air, have fun. They needed that, they really did. So, all the strong young men and women gathered wood and piled it outside the cave systems entrance. Soon, they had a roaring fire going, and nearly the whole community was gathered around it, some warming their hands, some roasting bits of food, some simply sitting back and reveling in its heat.

Kisshu leaned against a small sapling, a bit farther away from the fire. He felt relaxed-more relaxed then he'd felt in a long time. He observed what went on with the villagers gathered around the fire, wearing a small smile of amusement.

He watched as Pai and Taruto got into yet another argument. This one, was, as all the others, fairly ridiculous: it was about whose turn it was to go get more wood.

Taruto stamped his feet angrily. "Its your turn, Pai!"

Pai looked unbothered. One of the infuriating thing about arguing with Pai was that it was, for the most part, a one-sided argument. It was very hard to get a reaction out of Pai. "I just went, Taruto."

"Yes, but you only grabbed a little, and my load was much bigger! It's your turn-" Taruto's voice got squeakier when he was upset; it was pretty entertaining.

"Enjoying the show?"

Kisshu looked up to see Searadesi standing by him, wearing a shy smile. He smirked at her. "Do you blame me, Seara-chan?"

She smiled bigger. "Not really."

The stood by each other, watching Pai and Taruto's increasingly hilarious fight, in companionable silence. Something about Searadesi was easy; Kisshu didn't feel the need to fill the silence, or be formal. He could just be.

"Kisshu-kun, what happened on Earth?" Searadesi asked suddenly. "What was it like?"

Kish didn't answer at first. He'd been asked this question before, and he never liked answering it. But for once, he actually felt like it might be a good thing to tell the story to Searadesi…not just the bare facts, but everything.

So he did.

He told her it all. Arriving on Earth, serving Deep Blue, sending Chimera Animals at the humans, fighting the Mews and failing, again and again and again….Taruto and Pai arriving because Kisshu wasn't succeeding, something had gone wrong, Kisshu wasn't strong enough, couldn't win…

And still fighting and failing, not able to win, because the Mew Mews were just too strong. The growing realization that maybe their mission was not as innocent as they had first thought, maybe, in fact, they were doing something wrong….

And throughout it all, Ichigo, Ichigo, strong and steadfast, beautiful and unbeatable. What had started as a small fascination with her had risen to a crush, and then to an unhealthy obsession. In the end, when Kisshu had realized the truth, that Deep Blue was evil and that he, Kisshu, would do whatever it took to protect Ichigo, his feelings for her had blossomed into a single note of pure love. And then they'd left, and she'd been happy, happy with Aoyama, and happy that Kisshu was gone…

As he told his tale, Kisshu felt his voice shake with emotion, sometimes anger, sometimes sadness. He was embarrassed, but he could not stop; he had to finish the story, had to get through it once and for all so he could be cleansed of it.

He felt his voice almost give out as he finished. "And then we returned here…." He fell silent.

For a few moments, there was silence. Technically, there wasn't-there was still the crackling of the fire and the yells of Taruto and the happy shouts and laughter of the villagers-but with him and Searadesi, in their own little bubble, all was quiet.

Kisshu knew what was going to happen next. Searadesi would make some excuse and then leave, wanting to be away from him, the shameful alien who fell in love with a human and could not even save his own planet.

Instead, he felt a small, warm hand slide over his, and when he turned his head in shock, Searadesi was still there, staring up at him earnestly with her big moon eyes, violet locks framing her face. She said, "It's okay, Kisshu-kun."

Kisshu was so surprised he couldn't speak. He was vibrantly aware of the warmth of her hand on his, and without even thinking about it, he flipped his own hand over to grasp hers, fingers interlocking.

Seara smiled at him and said again, "It's okay, Kisshu. I promise." Kish felt something in his chest, something that had been wound so tightly and unbreakably for such a long time, since his parents had died, perhaps….unknot. Its pieces unwound from each other and fell away, dissipating in the wind.

He'd never felt so unburdened.

Before he could think it through, he had taken one step and Searadesi was in his arms. One of his arms was around her waist, the other over her shoulder and against her hair. He felt her warmth in his arms and hugged her tightly, feeling that freeness, that sense of weightlessness, course through him. She was standing stock-still with surprise, her face peeking over Kisshu's shoulder. Before she could say anything, Kisshu broke the moment himself and whispered, "Thank you, Searadesi."

Almost as quickly as the hug had begun, it was over, and Kisshu didn't look at Seara as he stepped back and walked quickly away. He was reeling, terrified of seeing anger or disgust on her face, and right now, he just wanted to savor this newfound feeling of light in his chest.

As he hurried back to the cave system and into its depths, he tried not to think _too _much about what had just happened, because something had changed, something more than just the lightening of Kisshu's heart. What was this feeling? What had just happened between Searadesi-chan and himself?

**Yay! Kisshu is starting to let go of Ichigo! What will happen when he sees her again, I wonder...? MWAHAHA! I WILL SAY NO MORE **


	10. Things change AGAIN! :D

**HEYYY buddyboys! What's up! I'm sorry for the long gap between chapters, I wanted to have this up by New Year's but it just didn't work out! Things are starting to speed up. It occurred to me recently that things were going realllyyy slow and lagging, and I don't want this story to be like fifty chapters! Now, things are going to get exciting. I hope you enjoy it :D**

**DON'T OWN A THING...or else Kisshu would be my husband.**

**And that wouldn't work out very well for him. **

**Kisshu: DON'T EVEN SPEAK OF SUCH SUBJECTS  
**

Chapter 10: Things are good...and then they aren't

The days slipped by just a little more speedily, and things were not the same.

Kisshu had never felt better. Never felt freer, lighter…_happier. _The combined healing effects of the Mew Aqua and of having finally talked to someone about the things that had happened on Earth had released him. He was still Kisshu, still the same person, just a so much _happier _Kisshu.

The building of the new village progressed, slowly but surely. The first building was up, and the second one was well on its way. Three families now shared the first building-it had been decided that those who needed it the most, the ones who had family members who were chronically ill or permanently lame, would live there. They were the ones who needed the most sunlight and fresh air, the most warmth. It was funny, Kisshu reflected once: In the old days, when everything had felt so desperate and uncertain, the people would probably have argued for days over who would live there. Now, most people were just happy that things were so much better now; the ones who weren't were overruled.

Almost every day, Kisshu worked on the construction. He liked it. Being out there in the sunlight and warmth, perching on the top of a building and hammering away, a breeze rustling through the trees and fluttering through his hair. Every once in a while, someone else would float up to him and bring him another board or other supply, and he could see it on that person's face, too: the newfound relief and relaxation.

In the evenings, whether outside or in the caves, he would sometimes sit with Taruto or occasionally Pai, discussing the building or Earth or anything. More than anyone, though, he found himself sitting and talking with Searadesi.

Things had changed between them. Somehow, telling her about his past had cemented something between them. He didn't know what it was about her, but he had never met someone so easy to talk too. They spent a lot of time together, whenever they could, just talking, sharing the stories of the past and wondering what was to come.

Kisshu learned a lot about her. She was fifteen years old and her father had died in a bad storm when she was two years old. Her mother had been ill for a long time and had passed away when Seara was eleven. She'd lived with her aunt since then, a kindly middle-aged woman named Lesta.

Kisshu could see the sadness in her eyes when she told him this. Hearing this from her made him want her to know he understood, so he told her about his family. He told her how his parents had been killed in a cave-in when he was seven. The memory stung-he never talked about it if he could avoid it, not even with Pai and Taruto. Searadesi patted his hand and said she was sorry, and he knew she meant it.

Kisshu learned more cheerful things from her, too. She loved music of any kind, and sang whenever she could. Her voice was beautiful-high and light, like a bird's, but full enough to carry a song. She hated mushrooms and thought Taruto was adorable, and her favorite color was gray, gray like the sky on a stormy day.

For the most part, she was Kisshu's best friend. But sometimes….It started one morning, shortly after construction had started. Kisshu had woken early to go get a head start on the work, and he'd found Seara standing in the woods at the edge of the clearing that the village was being built in. She didn't hear him as she approached. She was facing the clearing, but she wasn't looking at the partially put together buildings-she was looking at the sky. Something in expression was so calm, so relaxed, so at ease. Kisshu felt an odd little tug that he couldn't explain.

It wasn't just the one time. It was little things. They'd be sitting, talking, and she'd reach up to brush stray wisps of her satiny purple hair behind her ear. Or she'd flash a smile, laughing at something he said, and her whole face would light up.

In those moments, Kisshu would feel something he was uncertain and slightly afraid of. He didn't want to complicate things. Right now, being her friend was just enough.

It was on such relaxed occasion between them, where they sat and chat around a fire outside, that things began to change again.

Kisshu had just made some teasing insulting comment about Taruto and Seara, laughing, had pushed him playfully while defending her favorite buddy. Kisshu was trying to ignore that ever-growing feeling as he looked at her.

Suddenly, her laughter died out and she gasped. Her shoulders tensed up and her brow furrowed and her huge moon eyes were miles and miles away.

Kisshu understood immediately what was happening. She was having a vision. Lately, her visions had slowly been getting more and more frequent. Little things, mostly: it would rain the next day, or someone would catch a cold. Occasionally she had seen things that had been very helpful: someone would slip and cut their feet on a rusty nail, or a badly attached board would fall and injure someone. Kisshu was used to her visions by now-the first time he'd been very shocked and unsure what to do, but now he knew that the thing to do was just to keep calm and help her though it. Pai was still looking into exactly what it all was about.

But this vision seemed to be different. It was lasting a long time-normally she would snap out of it after a few seconds, but she was still staring off into space, her face someone absent and intensely focused at the same time.

Kisshu touched her shoulder lightly. "Seara-chan? You okay?"

Searadesi automatically flinched at his touch, but she still wouldn't look at him. He leaned around to stare her in the face. Her breath was coming faster now, heaving out of her chest in short little bursts. Slowly her expression became horrified, as if she were watching truly terrible things.

Worried now, Kisshu shook her shoulder. "Seara-chan? Seara-chan?" He looked around for Pai helplessly, but he was nowhere in sight.

Seara was shaking, her teeth chattering together as whatever she was being forced to witness grew more and more frightening. Kisshu grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Searadesi!"

Finally, her face lost its awful distance and her eyes clenched shut. Breathing hard, slowly blinked a few times and focused on his face. "K-kisshu," she forced out, and she sounded like she might cry. She collapsed into his chest, shuddering, and Kisshu, surprised and confused, wrapped his arms around her uncertainly.

"Seara-chan, what did you see?"

She withdrew from him and his heart ached as he saw a tear slip down her cheek. "Kisshu…"

She took a deep breath. "It's Earth. Terrible things are going to happen to your friends there.

**If you love me and want my undying gratitude, leave a review3 Whether it's to critique, ask questions, or praise, I will enjoy it :) **


	11. Departure

**Hello darlings! It's been a while since I updated, I apologize! The story is coming to an end-should be a couple more chapters! Thanks so much for all the great reviews and support! I love hearing your thoughts on the story, and constructive criticism is always welcome. Thanks for being so FABULOUS! **

Chapter 11: Departure

After Searadesi's startling prediction, Kisshu hurriedly met with Pai, Taruto, and Kaybler-san, and they listened as Searadesi told them just what her vision had foretold.

Sitting in a chair in a private cavern, with four anxious aliens hovering around her, Seara looked very small. Her eyes still had that faraway glaze to them, and her hands were trembling slightly. Her voice, however, was quite steady when she began to speak.

She said, "In my vision….I see the city called Tokyo being torn apart. A monster….a _huge _monster, will rise from the earth. When it emerges, it will fill the whole sky. Innocent humans will be killed by it, defenseless. The Mew Mews you speak of will attempt to fight it."

Kisshu, Pai, and Taruto all stiffened slightly at the mention of the Mew Mews.

Searadesi continued, "But they simply won't be prepared-they will be completely caught off guard. And this monster will be just…too strong. The Mew Mews will be destroyed. And eventually…..it will move on from Tokyo and wreck all of Earth." She clutched her head and squeezed her eyes shut. "Humans might be able to stop it eventually…I can't….can't see for certain…but it will certainly do great damage before then."

Taruto looked at Pai worriedly. "Chimera Animal?"

Pai looked even graver than normal (which is saying something). "It can't be. Chimera Animals came with us, and they left with us, too. There's no way there can still be one on Earth."

"What else could it be?" Kisshu demanded.

Seara put a hand to her forehead and clenched her eyes shut as if trying to remember something. "I think…it's a….it _is _a Chimera Animal. But not the type you had. It's not a normal one."

"How is that possible?" Taruto wondered.

Seara said haltingly, "It's….it's because of Deep Blue. When he was killed…the Mew Aqua in his body was released, and it seeped into the earth. It encountered animals and mutated them…and all this time, it's been festering there, mutating the animals until there was one giant monster. Soon it will be strong enough to break free."

"How soon?" Kaybler asked seriously.

Seara held her hands up uncertainly. "Two days? Three? Three at the most."

There was a sort of ominous silence as that sunk in. Taruto broke it. "What do we do?"

There was no reply, until Kaybler said, "You do want to do something, then?"

"What?" Taruto exclaimed.

"Well," Kaybler said delicately, "From what I can understand, it sounds like it'd be a suicide mission. I just want to be sure you've thought this through."

Kisshu said angrily, "Kaybler-san, without the Mew Mews, we'd be dead and our planet still in ruins. Of course we must help them."

Pai nodded his affirmative and Taruto said, "Yeah!"

Kaybler's face was carefully guarded. "Alright. If that is what you decide, then we as a village will support you." His face displayed only seriousness, but there was a gleam in his eye that made Kisshu think somehow Kaybler had been testing them with his questions, and that he approved of their decision.

Searadesi, however, was looking at Kisshu quite strangely. Her gaze was searching and…perhaps a bit sad? He didn't understand it.

After that, everything moved too quickly for him to have a chance to ask her about it. Because they were going back to Earth.

They'd decided it was the only thing they could do. The spacecraft was in fine working order, and could easily carry them back to Earth. The biggest question was who would go.

Kisshu, Pai, and Taruto all immediately secured a place, of course. But who else?

The village was scarce on able-bodied young workers, unfortunately. Too many of them had simply been trapped inside in the dark for far too long, and were only now able to come outside. Of that group of people, a small amount were at all skilled in fighting or combat. And of THAT small amount, a very few were at all willing to accompany Kisshu and the others on a cross-galaxy journey.

Eventually, though, a select few were picked for this very critical mission. One was Marzac, one of the pair of brothers that Kisshu had been sent on a scouting mission with. He had a steady head and was very skilled with the alien version of a bow and arrows, which was almost the same as normal bow and arrows except the arrows contained the same sensors that allowed the aliens to fly, so the arrows could basically go as far or as high as you wanted them too.

Another was Brittlee, who's biggest asset was simply that she was an amazing, speedy flier. She was also adept with knives. Her older brother, Arigo, was the last person selected for this mission. He was a huge guy, arms roped with brute force and strength. Everyone had agreed it could be very handy to have someone like him along.

Kaybler would not be coming. When asked, he shook his head and said, "Sorry, Kisshu-kun, Pai-kun, Taruto-kun-my place is here, with the people. My spirit will be with you." That was pretty much what Kisshu had expected of him.

And that was all anyone expected. All the villagers gathered to say goodbye to those leaving, and Kaybler-san gave a very affecting speech. That was all there was time for.

Kisshu went back to his room and hurriedly packed up his Sais-his dragon swords-and a change of clothes. He trailed his fingers over his father's dagger and his mother's set of pipes, but left them sitting there. He was ready. He hurried back up to the surface, where nearly all of the village was gathered around the spacecraft. And standing near the entrance with the other journeyers was Searadesi, a pack slung over her shoulder, her face unreadable.

Kisshu, shocked, beelined his way to her. She saw him coming and straightened her shoulders, and he knew that _she _knew what he was going to say.

"Searadesi-chan? You're coming?"

She nodded, lifting her chin. "Yes."

Kisshu's brow furrowed. "Searadesi, it's far too dangerous! This is…" He lowered his voice and looked around to make sure no one heard him. He didn't want to make them lose hope. "This is probably going to be a suicide mission! You don't need to be in the middle of that!

She shook her head. "I don't care. I'm going."

Kisshu could feel himself getting worked up, and he tried to calm himself down. "Searadesi-chan, you need to stay here. You don't understand."

Searadesi's silver eyes flashed. "I don't? Kisshu, I _saw _what's going to happen. I know better than _anyone. _And I can help. I can see what's going to happen. You need me. This doesn't have to be a suicide mission."

Kisshu just looked at her, jaw clenched. He didn't want her to go, but he had a feeling that he wasn't going to be able to stop her. She was right. She could help.

He just didn't want her to get hurt.

"Fine," he said, his voice irritated. "Get on the damn ship. I hope you know what you signed up for."

It was sort of funny. Kisshu had never spoken to her so crankily before, and he wasn't quite sure how she'd react. But as he turned to get on the ship, he saw her break into a huge smile.

As soon as everyone was loaded inside, Pai and Kisshu took their places at the control panel and began to maneuver the machine. As the craft began to move, Kisshu could clearly hear the cheers of the villagers around them, echoing in his ears.


	12. Returning

**Hello! Okay, okay, so I know it's been...way too long since I've uploaded. I really have no excuse other than that I wasn't quite sure how to write this part of the story, and had a bit of writer's block. So sorry for the delay! I promise to get the next chapter up more quickly. :D Thank you so much for reading! **

Chapter 12: Returning

Traveling in the ship was always kind of disorienting. Kisshu stared at the control panel's screen, trying to stop his head from spinning as stars flashed by in the inky depths of space. For the moment, he was steering-he, Pai, and Taruto switched off. Currently, Pai was in the back, getting some rest, while Taruto, Arigo, Marzac, and Brittlee squabbled good-naturedly over a gambling game.

Kisshu absentmindedly flicked the ship's steering controls, turning the ship to avoid an upcoming meteor. His mind was on other matters. They were going back to Earth. He was going to see Ichigo again. And he really had no idea how he felt about that.

He heard footsteps approaching and turned his head slightly to see Searadesi standing behind him, examining the control panel and the window through which they could see space rushing by. She cocked her head, silver eyes widening a bit in awe.

Kisshu smirked. "Pretty cool, huh?"

She smacked the back of his head. "Well, excuse me. We haven't all traveled the universe like you." She sat down in the chair next to him. Behind them, Kisshu heard Taruto shout, "No fair!" Sounded like someone was losing.

"Guess you've forgiven me for forcing my way on this journey, huh?" Searadesi smiled teasingly.

Kisshu stared straight ahead, trying to maintain a stony façade, but he wasn't really angry at her anymore. She'd been right: they could use her on this journey. Dangerous or not…

He'd just have to protect her.

Kisshu said wryly, "Don't push your luck." Searadesi grinned. But after a moment, her smile vanished, and she suddenly looked preoccupied. Not looking at him but focusing her gaze on the control panel, she slid her finger along the edge of it, and said, "Kisshu….can I ask you something?"

Slightly unnerved by the change in her demeanor, he answered, "Of course."

She took a breath, "Are you…." She stopped, seemingly searching for words. Then she turned to him and said seriously, "Do you think you're still in love with Ichigo-san?"

Kisshu's brow furrowed, marveling that she had asked about the exact thing that was on his mind. Honestly, he really didn't know. He didn't want to love Ichigo: he knew it was a hopeless love. Ichigo was very happy with Aoyama. But he still didn't know how he felt.

Actually, what he was really wondering at this moment was why Searadesi looked so grave asking the question. What did it matter to her?

Kisshu opened his mouth to answer, not quite clear on what he was going to say, but he never had the chance, because at that moment, Searadesi gasped and said, "Kisshu! The ship-"

She didn't have time to finish her prediction, because it fulfilled itself in the next moment. The spaceship gave a great shudder. Kisshu snapped his attention back to the control screen. A red light was flashing an emergency alert. Standing up, Kisshu yelled, "Taruto! Get Pai!"

Kisshu hurriedly pushed certain buttons, trying to find the source of the problem. Pai, hair sticking up on one side of his head and clearly just having been woken up, sat down next to him and said urgently, "What happened?"

"I don't know!"

Pai's fingers were flying over the buttons, accomplishing far more than Kisshu could. A flashing diagram of the engine popped up on screen. "The engine's failing!"

Crap. "Why?" Kisshu demanded.

"Something came loose. It's not going to hold up much longer."

Kisshu cursed. One glance behind him showed Arigo, Marzac, and Brittlee clutching their chairs, looking terrified, as the ship shook. Taruto was floating behind Pai, ready for orders. Searadesi was clinging to the wall, her expression calmer but clearly more aware than any of them just how bad this could be. She met Kisshu's eyes. "If we don't do something now, we're going to die."

Cursing, Kisshu got up, yelled, "Taruto, help Pai!", and materialized out of the room, into the engine room at the very back of the ship.

The engine was smoking, great acrid black clouds rising from its cogs. Kisshu examined the spot that smoke was emitting from and saw that the wires and machinery seemed to be rusting through and falling apart. _Damn! _They should have known better than to trust something that came from Deep Blue!

The worst of the damage, however, seemed to be because of a metal piece that had come loose from its socket. Kisshu quickly transported to the supply closet, grabbed a wrench, and popped back into the engine room. He shoved the metal piece back into the socket and tightened it with the wrench.

Almost immediately, the smoke pouring out began to lessen. Kisshu waited a moment, seeing if any new disaster would spring up. When none did, he cautiously flicked the side of the metal piece. It felt sturdy enough, but clearly, the engine was in bad shape.

Kisshu popped back to the main space of the ship. The tremors of the ship had stopped, and the control panel had stopped flashing lights. Kisshu said to everybody, "The engine is falling apart. I think I've got it temporarily under control, but I don't know if this ship is going to be able to carry us back home."

There was a moment of contemplative silence, and then Pai said, "We'll worry about that when the time comes. I'm sure Ryu and Akasaka will be able to help us repair it. We've got about another hour or so until we get to Earth, Kisshu. Do you think it can last till then?"

Kisshu nodded. Pai said, "Get some rest. Taruto and I have things under control over here."

Kisshu didn't think he was going to be able to get any sleep; he was way too wound up at the thought of being on Earth again. He sat down next to Searadesi without thinking about it. She looked a bit pale from their nearly deadly almost-crash, but otherwise alright.

Kisshu asked, "You alright, Seara-chan?"

She nodded. "Yes. I'm just….that could have been really bad."

Kisshu patted her hand. "It's all alright now."

And in all the commotion, he completely forgot the question she had asked him.

"We're almost there!" Taruto yelled excitedly.

Kisshu jerked away, sitting up straight in the chair he'd been dozing in. Rubbing his eyes blearily, he looked up and saw that they were fast approaching earth-the green, blue, and white planet was growing larger on the control panel's screen by the second. Kisshu walked forward and looked over Pai's chair, watching as Asia slowly grew larger…then Japan….then Tokyo. The ship shook as it soared through the atmospheres, and everyone in the back grabbed hold of the walls to hold steady.

In what seemed an incredibly short space of time to Kisshu, they had landed in a deserted field on the outskirts of Tokyo.

**I PROMISE to get the Mew Mews in the story in the next chapter! I really wanted to accomplish that in this chappie, but I simply couldn't write any more on this one. I can't wait to get Ichigo in this story! :D Thank you for reading and please review!**


	13. Reunited

**Hellooo my dear lovely ones! Okay, okay, I know: It's been a ridiculously long time since I've uploaded. Feel free to bombard me with tomatoes. I'm sorry! I don't really have any excuses. :) But I really tried to put a lot of effort into this chapter to make it up to you guys, so I hope you like it!**

**By the way, I'm hoping to finish this story up in several chapters. I don't want my story to drag on forever, and I am working hard to prevent that! :D  
**

Chapter 13: Reunited **(AND IT FEELS...SO GOOD...:D) **

Kisshu stepped of off the ramp way of the space ship, planting his feet on Earth's solid ground. He stretched his shoulders back and breathed deeply: it had been a while.

Around him, Pai and Taruto stepped out and stretched, and Arigo, Marzac, and Brittlee followed them, staring around themselves in awe.

After a moment, Kisshu turned back to the space ship's doorway, realizing Searadesi was still standing on the ramp. She stared out at them all, biting her lip and hesitating.

He smiled at he and held out his hand. "Come on. It's okay, I promise."

She looked at him for a moment and then, taking a big breath, put her hand in his and stepped out into the sun.

Kisshu watched Searadesi's reaction as she looked around, the sun, so much closer to this planet than to theirs, lighting up her skin. It was late afternoon. The wind gusted her amethyst hair around her face as she looked at the silhouettes of skyscrapers visible in the distance over the tops of enormous trees. They heard, very faintly, the hum of engines from a nearby highway. Here, concealed in this small field surrounded by trees, they could see and hear many aspects of human life, but they were not visible.

Searadesi inhaled a gulp of the fresh, springy air. "The air…" She paused, searching for words. "It feels…different here."

"That's because of the atmosphere," Pai explained. "It's heavier than on our planet. It's slightly more difficult to fly and teleport because of this."

Pai began to launch into a detailed explanation of Earth's atmosphere, and Kisshu tuned him out, focusing instead on Tokyo's skyline. He could barely see the peak of what might have been Tokyo Tower.

The Mews were there.

Taruto, standing next to him, was looking in the same direction, a mixture of anxiety and anticipation in his amber eyes. Absently fingering his click-clacks, he murmured, "Kisshu, I'm nervous."

Shaking off his own doubts, Kisshu grinned and playfully knocked Taruto's side. "Hey, it'll be fine. I'm sure that monkey kid will be glad to see you."

Taruto's ears turned crimson. He opened his mouth to throw back a retort, but Pai cut him off.

"Alright, let's head to the Café."

Searadesi looked at Kisshu. "Café?"

"It's a place to eat food. The Mew Mews use it as their headquarters," Kisshu explained. Kisshu, Pai, and Taruto had already spent a good portion of the trip here explaining the Mews and their powers.

Kisshu, Taruto, and Pai all grabbed onto the four that had never been to the Café before and teleported to the area in front of the Café. Kisshu quickly let go of Searadesi's hand. His eyes went to the familiar cutesy building.

"Awww, it's so cute!" Brittlee gushed. Expert flier or not, that one still seemed to have a girly streak.

"I bet they make good food…" mused Arigo.

Kisshu stared at the pink building covered in hearts. Though it had only been a few months, it felt like years since he'd last seen it.

Suddenly, the door slid open. A demanding voice floated out of it. "Someone tell Shirogane to take out the trash!"

An equally irritated voice yelled back, "That's _your _job, Mint!"

Kisshu suppressed a grin, though his heart was pounding in his chest. The Mews must have been closing shop for the day.

The door opened fully to reveal Lettuce, the kindest Mew. Her forest green hair was tied back in it's usual braids, and she was wearing the traditional maid uniform of the Mews. In her hand was a garbage bag, and she was leaning back into the open doorway to call in her gentle voice, "It's alright, I've got it!"

Kisshu said under his breath to the group of newbie aliens. "That's Lettuce, the porpoise Mew." As he did so, he noticed that Pai seemed to be doing an awful lot of uncomfortable shifting. Hm…

Lettuce faced forwards, and her eyes fell upon the group of aliens floating a few yards from her. Her eyes widened within the frame of her glasses, and the garbage bag fell from her hand. A breathless squeak issued from her mouth. "Pai…Kisshu…Taruto…kun?"

Kisshu looked at his group. Pai seemed to have frozen up, and Taruto looked too nervous to say anything. Kisshu had never been uncomfortable around the sweet Green Mew, so he smiled at her, fang poking out, and said, "Hey, Lettuce-chan. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

She could only stare at him.

Mint peeked her indigo head out the door. "Hey, Lettuce, what's taking so lo…?" Her question trailed off. "K-ki-kisshu?" she sputtered.

"Hey, Mint." His smile widened, whilst his pulse was throbbing in his ears. Two Mews down, three to go. Eventually he would have to face her.

"Onee-chans, why are we all gathering outside? Did someone say Kisshu?" The Monkey Mew's hyper little body cart wheeled out the door. She landed in a perfectly balanced handstand, looking at Lettuce and Mint expectantly. Then she saw the returned aliens.

Her rascally face positively lit up with excitement. Flipping onto her feet, she squealed, "TARU-TARU! You're back!"

Before anyone could move a muscle, Pudding had launched herself at Taruto and wrapped her tiny arms around him in a fierce hug. Taruto's face flamed bright red, especially when Kisshu accidentally let a snicker escape. Taruto stuttered, "Hey-don't-I-STOP CALLING ME THAT!" He flailed, trying to disengage himself from her grip, but Pudding ignored him, a satisfied smile on her face. Kisshu knew Taruto well enough to see that he was actually rather pleased.

"You're going to strangle him, Pudding," Zakuro said, leaning against the doorway and watching the scene, stoic as always, but with her lips curved in a small smile. Akasaka and Ryou appeared behind her.

Akasaka gasped. "Aliens?"

That was everyone. So where was Ichigo? A small amount of tension leaked out of Kisshu, so he said, "Hey, Mews!"

Lettuce broke into a smile, and even Mint looked a little bit happy. Pudding, finally letting go of Taruto, exclaimed. "Alien oni-chans are back!"

Ryou, relaxing, walked forward to shake the Pai's hand, and the tension broke. Suddenly, the aliens and the Mews were shaking hands, smiling, and even hugging each other.

But where was Ichigo?

Ryou, his face settling into more serious lines, said, "But why are you all here? And who are these people?" He gestured at Searadesi, Arigo, Brittlee, and Marzac.

Pai glanced at Kisshu and Searadesi. "It's a very serious matter, unfortunately. But everyone needs to be here for the explanation of it."

"Yeah, where's the old lady?" Taruto asked. Kisshu was glad he hadn't been the one to ask it.

"Today's her day off," Mint said.

Pudding piped up, "Ichigo onee-chan said she had a date with Aoyama oni-chan toni-"Mint covered Pudding's mouth, while all the Mews looked at Kisshu apprehensively.

Kisshu sighed inwardly. So Aoyama was still around. He'd expected that, and it was neither as surprising nor as painful a fact as it once would have been.

Beside him, very discreetly, Searadesi's hand slipped into his and squeezed reassuringly.

Everyone was still watching him, so Kisshu brushed off his confused emotions and grinned cockily. "So she's at home now? Alright, then, I'll go get her." And before anyone could stop him, Kisshu teleported away. Ichigo's date was just going to have to wait.

Kisshu teleported to the street outside of Ichigo's cute little house. Though it shamed him to think of it now, he had come here on several occasions to watch her. He'd see her simply go about her business: do homework, talk on the phone, clean, etc.

Someone else could have gone to get Ichigo. But honestly, he just wanted to get this first moment over with. He didn't know how Ichigo would react to seeing him. He didn't even know how HE'D react. How did he even feel about her anymore?

That was why he was here. To see if he could get any small part of this whole mess cleared up.

He floated up to the big oak tree outside her window and cautiously looked into her bedroom window. His breath caught in his chest, and for a moment, he could have sworn his heart stopped.

There she was.

Ichigo.

She was standing in front of her mirror, and as he watched, she lifted her hand to smooth a stray piece of hair. She was as cute as ever. Her deep red hair had grown out, and it spilled loose and free over the tops of her shoulders, the ends curling. She was…vibrant. She was humming a cheerful tune, and kept glancing over at the cell phone sitting on her desk with a small smile on her face. Her brown eyes were content and happy.

Kisshu held his breath, and then released it. Seeing her….didn't hurt. He'd thought it would. Seeing her again felt…nice. Not…'overjoyed' nice. Not 'seeing the girl you loved' nice. Simply…'seeing a good friend again' nice. Before he had time to gather and sort out his thoughts anymore, Masha gave him away. The tiny pink fuzz ball rose from its perch on Ichigo's desk and chanted, "Alien! Alien!"

Ichigo laughed. Kisshu could hear her voice, muted, through the window. "Masha, what are you talking about? The aliens are gone." She turned to look at Masha and her eyes were drawn to Kisshu, sitting lightly on the outside sill of her closed window. Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open slightly.

Kisshu sighed. No use hiding now. He teleported inside her room, so that he was leaning back against the window. She was still staring at him, amazed and frozen. Her hand, which had still been touching her hair, slowly lowered to her side.

Kisshu smiled at her. "Hey, koneko-chan."

She spoke softly, her chocolate eyes still shocked. "K…Kisshu?"

**Cliffhanger! I know, really evil of me. Forgive me! I simply can't write any more tonight! I promise I will try VERY hard to get the next chappie up soon!**

**Thank you so much for your wonderful reviews and feedback. It means so much to me! By the way, don't be afraid to give me critique or advice on my writing. It won't hurt my feelings at all, but rather motivate me to do better! I want to improve my writing and become the best that I can be! So please feel free to offer any thoughts you might have :)  
**


	14. Info

**Hello lovelymuffins! I finally got around to updating! *chorus of halfhearted applause* Now don't be like that! How about this? The story is almost FINALLY DONE AND COMPLETE! *slightly more enthusiastic applause* Yes, I know! It's gone on muchhh longer than I had planned! Anyway, there should only be one more chapter, two at the very most! Thanks for those who've stuck with it!**

**Near the end is a chunk from Ichigo's point of view. I'm normally a bit careful with switching the point of view around, but I felt like it could be a good addition :)  
**

**I recieved a review I felt the need to reply too :) Someone was a bit put out that the story isn't Ichigo/Kisshu. I just wanted to say that, TRUST ME, I wanted Ichigo and Kisshu together, too. I realllllyyy did. But that was never the story I set out to write. With everything that had happened and with Ichigo and Kisshu both being in the places they were, I just couldn't see it happening. I'm sorry! This was my attempt to give Kisshu a happy ending without Ichigo. I hope the ending doesn't disappoint! There are so many AWESOME Kichigo fanfics out there, though, if that's what you're looking for. I highly recommend Whitewolfffy's "Hearing Voices" or Breezyfeather's "The Psychotic Alien We All Enjoy" and sequel. They are extremely entertaining :) **

**ENOUGH RAMBLINGS. ON WITH THE STORY.  
**

Chapter 14: Info

Kisshu faced Ichigo's frozen eyes across the expanse of her bedroom.

She stared at him, her mouth slightly parted. He watched the cocoa eyes he knew so well and saw a wide range of emotions flit through them. Shock, curiosity…fear.

That panged him a bit, but he couldn't blame her for it. After everything he'd put her through, he supposed it was only to be expected.

Smirking softly, he spread his hands wide and said, "It's alright, koneko. I'm not going to hurt you."

Her face relaxed, and her eyes finally settled on the one emotion he hadn't expected: happiness. Breaking into a smile, she said again, this time with excitement, "Kisshu!"

She rushed him and threw her arms around him in an enthusiastic hug. Surprised, he didn't react at first, before slowly winding his arms around her and squeezing her snugly. It felt right.

After a moment, she withdrew from him and questions flew from her mouth. "But why are you here? How did you get here? Are Pai and Taruto here? Is something wrong?"

Kisshu's expression became serious, a shadow falling over his face. "It's a long story. Everyone's gathered back at the café."

Ichigo nodded, picking up on the gravity of the situation. "Let's go." She grabbed her Mew Pendant off the desk. Catching sight of the cell phone, she hurriedly fired off a text and threw it on the bed. Then she stood at the ready and held out her hand.

Kisshu couldn't suppress a grin as he grabbed her hand and teleported away. He knew she wasn't doing it for him, but it was still nice to know that if need be, she could cancel a date with Aoyama.

The pair appeared in the main room of the café. It was empty.

"They're probably all down in the basement," Ichigo said. They walked down into the basement that served as a control room for the Mews.

Everyone was there, in the vast dark room with an array of screens and controls. Akasaka and Ryou were conversing quietly, whilst the Mews and aliens reacquainted themselves. Searadesi was silent and subdued. When she saw Kisshu, her eyes lit up, and the flicked to Ichigo. She bit her lip.

Kisshu didn't notice right then. The aliens stood up and greeted Ichigo, and she responded warmly.

After the pleasantries were over, Ryou stepped forward. "Kisshu. Pai." **(POOR TARUTO, IGNORED AGAIN. AT LEAST HE HAS PUDDING**.)"Not that we aren't glad to see you all, but why are you here? What's wrong?"

All of the alien's eyes shifted to look at Searadesi, and the humans followed their lead. Searadesi, sitting quietly, shifted uncomfortably.

Kisshu started, "Well. After we left here, we went back to our planet. We used the Mew Aqua to heal our planet, and it worked…better than we could have dreamed of. But, well, Searadesi here…." He gestured at her. "…she's been having…visions."

He paused. Mint interjected, "Visions?"

Pai answered, "We believe it to be a result of the Mew Aqua that permeated Deep Blue's body. When he was on our planet, it seems it may have rubbed off on the atmosphere and affected some of the villagers. So far, Searadesi-san is the only one. At any rate, she has shown great powers of premonition."

Pudding jumped in with child-like excitement. "You can see the future, onee-chan? Can you predict whether Pudding-chan will ever be a famous street performer?"

Searadesi smiled lightly and said, "It's not quite…like that. I can't decide when or what I want to see. The visions come, whenever they want, about whatever they want. It's out of my control."

She took a deep breath. "The point is, yesterday I had a vision." She fidgeted with her hair nervously, then forged ahead. "I saw Tokyo, and eventually, nearly all of your planet, being destroyed by a horrible creature." There was a collective gasp from the humans. "It's because of Deep Blue. When he was killed, the Mew Aqua in his body was released, and it's been slowly mutating animals into a…terrible monster….deep in the earth."

Zakuro asked quietly, "How soon?"

Searadesi shook her head. "I can't be completely certain. Two days or less."

A heavy silence fell across the room as everyone, aliens, who had already heard the news, included, contemplated that.

Akasaka said hesitantly, "Searadesi-san, I must ask…are you certain about this? Completely certain?"

Seara paused, considering, then squared her shoulders. "Yes. I'm absolutely positive."

There was another moment of silence. Then, in a flash, Akasaka was over at his computer screen, Ryou leaning over him. Fingers flying across the keys, Akasaka explained, "We've been running regular checks of the area around here for any suspicious activity, but if it's deep in the earth, it's likely we didn't pick up on anything."

A few more clicks and a graph-like, rough image appeared. Everyone huddled around the screen.

"Is that it? Is that the creature?" Ichigo asked.

Akasaka nodded. "It must be. This is nearly a mile beneath Tokyo."

"How big is that thing…?" Taruto wondered.

Akasaka squinted at the screen. "It's hard to say….it appears to be…changing as we speak."

Kisshu saw that he was right. The shape did appear to be morphing at the edges as they looked on.

Akasaka let out a breath of air. "It's at least 150 feet wide."

Silence fell once again. That was nearly half the size of Tokyo Tower, the tallest structure in Japan.

Ryou broke the grim silence. "Well. I guess we'd better get on it. Keiichiro, Pai, run some tests and get as much information on that thing as possible." Akasaka and Pai nodded and set to work. Ryou turned to Searadesi. "Searadesi-san, we need to ask a few questions. Where and how exactly did this creature emerge?"

She pursed her lips. "Well…I don't know this area and I didn't see it for long, but it was a square green area…surrounded by pink…all in a big silver oval."

Zakuro looked at Ryou. "That sounds like National Olympic stadium." Ryou nodded and, with a few rapid clicks, pulled up a picture of the vast stadium on one of the screens.

"Was this the place, Searadesi-san?"

She nodded. "Yes! That's it. As for how….the creature tore its way out of the earth and then out of the stadium, into the city."

"What did it look like?" Lettuce asked, sounding awed and fearful.

Searadesi sighed. "I couldn't get a good look at it, but…it's just like it was on the screen…it kept changing."

Ryou ran his hand over the back of his head. "Fantastic," he muttered.

He met Ichigo's eyes.

She said quietly, "We need to evacuate Tokyo."

Ryou held her gaze, then nodded.

"Evacuate Tokyo? And give them what reason?" Pudding asked.

"The people of Tokyo know that the Mews have saved them before," Ichigo pointed out. "If they're smart, they'll listen to us if we tell them they need to leave."

Ryou nodded his agreement. "We'll have to make some calls." He ran his hand through his already tousled hair. "This is going to take some work and planning."

He looked at Kisshu. "We are grateful for you coming all the way here just to warn us. Fighting this thing unprepared would have been devastating.

Pai stopped typing. Kisshu raised an eyebrow and said, "No problem, Shirogane-kun. But we didn't just come back to warn you. We're going to help, of course."

Ichigo stared at him, mouth open.

"Help?" Lettuce repeated in her quiet voice.

"Yep. Why do you think we brought all of them?" Kisshu gestured at the aliens who'd never been here before, Arigo, Brittlee, and Marzac. "No offense." He winked. Becoming serious again, Kisshu said, "It's the least we can do after everything that's happened."

"Yeah! We're going to defeat this thing!" Taruto said determinedly.

The Mews and company stared at the aliens for a moment, before Pudding tackled Taruto again. "Taru-taru, I'm so proud of you! Being friends is great!"

Kisshu smirked, shaking his head, and caught Searadesi's eye. She, too, was looking at him with eyes that were proud.

**Ichigo's point of view:**

Kisshu was different.

As everyone gathered in the depths of the basement discussed the situation at hand, Ichigo discreetly watched Kisshu. The same thought struck her again and again: he was so _different._

Everything about him seemed lighter. Freer. Sure, before he had always put on such a cocky, smirk-y attitude-but under that façade, all too easy to see, had been something darker. Roiling beneath the surface, Kisshu's emotions had been so clearly barely within control, and every move he made was unpredictable. That was what had scared Ichigo the most about him. He'd been so wild.

Now, the carefree act was…real. Certainly he was, for the most part, serious at the moment, considering the situation at hand, but every expression on his face and every word he spoke revealed that something in him had healed.

She wondered what had changed.

His planet was safe. That was surely a humongous factor.

The Mews and aliens were no longer at war. That, too.

But that wasn't just it. There was something else.

Something in the way Kisshu's gold eyes hovered on the girl, Searadesi. Something in the way he stood protectively behind her. Something in the way that, when she spoke to him, the very faintest of blushes lit his pale face, and he fidgeted with his fingers.

A piece of information came home to Ichigo, and she was shocked.

Kisshu didn't seem to love her anymore.

If she was right…he seemed to care for…Searadesi.

She felt slightly at a loss. Who was Kisshu if he didn't love her anymore? How was she supposed to treat him?

Then the full implications hit her. If Kisshu didn't love her anymore…he could be happy.

Loving her would only ever bring him pain, because Ichigo knew in her heart, without a doubt, that Aoyama was the one for her. And even if he hadn't been, she could never love Kisshu in that way.

If Kisshu loved someone else, he would be free.

He and her could be friends.

Everyone could live happily.

That is, if they could defeat this creature soon to attack her hometown.

**Next chapter hopefully SOON! Review if you have a mo! :) **


	15. Time Running Out

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: HELLO ALL! ...what? You don't remember me? I don't blame you! It's been a LONG LONG LONG TIME! I'M SORRY! *bows down* I humbly beg your forgiveness! I have no excuses...BUT THIS STORY WILL NEVER DIE. IT WILL ALWAYS BE FINISHED.**** ON WITH THE SHOW.**

"What do you mean we lack a warranted emergency?" Ryou said angrily into the phone. "After everything the Mews have done, you can't trust them?"

Everyone in headquarters waited silently as Ryou paused. Finally, he said through gritted teeth, "By the time we can give you evidence, it will be too late."

After another few moments, Ryou slammed the phone shut and cursed. Ichigo sighed. Mint muttered, "Well. That went well."

After a discouraged silence all around, Ryou said quietly, "If we can't evacuate the city, we're just going to have to make sure this thing doesn't leave that stadium.

There was a pause. Then, Ichigo stepped up.

"Alright. Well, we don't have any time to waste." She turned to Pai and Akasaka. "Please keep running tests and find out as much information about this creature as you can." The pair nodded and jumped to work. She turned to Searadesi. "Searadesi-chan, please inform us if you have any new visions whatsoever."

Ichigo's eyes caught on the new members of the alien group, Brittlee, Marzac, and Arigo. The trio had been introduced to everyone, but their reason for being there hadn't been explained. Kisshu, foreseeing Ichigo's question, said, "These three are here to help us fight. They all possess magnificent skill. Marzac here is very adept with a bow and arrow. Brittlee is an advanced flier, and is also skilled with knives. And Arigo…well, I should say his talent is obvious." Arigo grinned and flexed his enormous arms.

Ichigo smiled that warm, bright smile at them and said with simplicity but true sincerity, "Thank you." The other Mews mirrored her sentiments.

Ryou spoke briskly. "Alright, the next thing we should-"

Kisshu cut him off. "Wait!" He leaned over Searadesi, having heard her surprised gasp. Her quicksilver eyes were far away and darting around as if watching a scene unfold. Her hands clutched at the arms of her chair. "She's having a vision," he said quietly, eyes on her face. Everyone grew silent, waiting with bated breath for what new horror could be unfolding upon them.

A few moments later-though it felt much longer-Searadesi blinked and her hands relaxed. Kisshu crouched in front of her, and her eyes focused on his face. "What did you see?"

She sucked in a breath, gathering her thoughts. Her gaze shifted to look at the others. "It's the day after tomorrow. In the morning. Definitely."

Ryou turned to look at Akasaka questioningly. "The information we've gathered so far lines up with that," he confirmed, as Pai nodded solemnly. Kisshu was still watching Searadesi. She was biting her lip, looking at Ichigo with anxiety in her eyes.

He said slowly, "There's something else. You saw something else."

She locked eyes with him, and he saw fear there. "Yes. You…" She looked back at Ichigo. "I saw you dying."

Ichigo stared at Searadesi, mouth open. "Me…dying?"

Seara nodded gravely. "You jumped up, trying to get close enough to the creature to attack it head-on, but it…sort of swatted you out of the sky."

That sounded so typical of Ichigo. Brave and self-sacrificing, but pretty reckless. Kisshu mentally shook his head.

Ichigo sat down heavily in a chair, her eyes wide.

Searadesi hurried to say, "Don't be afraid! Now that we know about this, we can prevent it-the future isn't set in stone. When we were on our way here, I saw our engine failing and the ship crashing! But that didn't happen!"

"Your engine almost failed?" Lettuce asked, looking concerned.

Taruto shrugged. "We patched it together for the time being."

Ryou nodded. "We'll look into that later." He sighed and checked his watch. "It's late. Let's call it a day. We'll be up bright and early tomorrow to plan and discuss things.

Kisshu felt that perhaps he should argue this, as there was so much to be done, but he was, quite honestly, absolutely exhausted. The nerves and tension of the last two days, combined with a sleepless night, left him, and all of the aliens, he was sure, quite weary. Pai nodded his affirmative at Ryou, then glanced at the others. "I guess we'd better get back to the ship, then."

"Wait!" Lettuce interjected. "Back to the ship? That can't be comfortable." Kisshu chuckled inwardly. Always the mother hen, that one.

"We can handle it," he said patiently.

"No, she's right," Ryou jumped in. "It's probably best all of us to stay close here, in case anything changes."

"Besides," Akasaka said with his gentle smile, "You must be hungry."

Pai glanced at Kisshu, who shrugged. It didn't really matter one way or another.

Lettuce, seeing their exchange, leapt into action. "I'll go find some sleeping bags!" She rushed off.

"I'll prepare dinner," Akasaka said, bustling into the kitchen. Kisshu had a brief mental image of him with a flowered apron and oven mittens on. It wasn't a pretty thought.

Ichigo fumbled in her pocket. "I need to call Mas…" She paused, glancing at Kisshu. "Mmm. I need to make a call." Kisshu smirked. Ichigo could call Aoyama all she wanted. Though now that he thought about it….no matter what his feelings-or lack of-were towards Ichigo now…Aoyama still sort of struck him as a sniveling, girly weasel. Ah, well. Some things never change.

Pai went to help Lettuce with the sleeping bags, while Pudding bounced all around Taruto, bombarding him with questions. Zakuro and Mint conversed politely with Marzac, Brittlee, and Arigo, while Ryou surveyed the room momentarily, then went back to the computer screen. Kisshu sat down next to Searadesi, noting that she still looked pale.

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, and said softly, "She seems nice."

He glanced at her, startled. "Who?"

She tilted her head in the direction Ichigo had exited from. "Momiya-san…Ichigo."

Kisshu contemplated this, then resting his chin on his fist, said, thoughtfully, "She is."

Searadesi said nothing. Presently, she excused herself, mumbling something about having a question for Pai. Kisshu stared after her, realizing he might have said something wrong.

The next day was spent in a nearby clearing in the forest, secluded enough to shield them from prying eyes and big enough to give them space to train. The warriors discussed strategy, informed each other of their skills, did everything they possibly could to prepare for the vague monster they would soon be facing. Akasaka and Pai spent a good portion of the day in the lab, running tests and sorting through data. The Mews and the aliens intermingled, all desperately working so that Earth would have a fighting chance.

The latter half of the day featured slight drama, when Pudding, in an attempt to teach Taruto how to juggle knives, accidentally shredded half of the alien's sleeping bags and narrowly avoided impaling Lettuce. While Ryou and Pai were yelling at the pair, Kisshu, suppressing a smirk, slipped away to the basement.

Kisshu entered the supply room to find Ichigo rummaging through a box. He paused, surprised, but, realizing he didn't really feel awkward like he had expected to, continued in the room. She looked up, shaking fuchsia hair out of her eyes.

Kisshu gestured to the boxes. "I was just looking for more sleeping bags."

Ichigo smiled ruefully. "So was I." She pointed up to the top shelf. "I think they're behind that box on the top shelf, but I can't reach it."

Kisshu looked to where she was pointing and floated up the shelf, shifting the boxes to find the stack of sleeping bags. He floated back down to her level.

She grinned, grabbing half of the sleeping bags from the pile in his arms. "Thanks." She was quiet for a moment, before hesitantly saying, "You know, Kisshu, you're a lot different."

Startled, Kisshu dropped his load on the floor. "Really, koneko-chan?" Of course, he knew he'd changed a lot in the past few months-for the better, he hoped. But he hadn't realized it would be so obvious.

She nodded, speaking softly. "Yes. You seem a lot happier." She looked up at him and smiled a bit oddly. It took him a moment to realize that their was a bit of a…knowing look about her smile. "I'm happy for you, Kisshu."

Well, that was nice of her, but…why did Kisshu feel like he was missing something? "Happy for me, kitty?" He bent over to grab the sleeping bags, but froze when he heard her say, "Happy you've found someone."

Found someone? He straightened slowly, looking at her intently. "What do you mean?"

Now _she _looked confused. "Was I wrong? I'm sorry, I don't mean to pry…I just thought, well, you and Searadesi-chan…

Kisshu stared at her, until a (surely) audible click filled his mind and he understood what she was implying.

He and Searadesi?

Together?

More than a friendly relationship?

Was that a possibility?

But…Ichigo was the only girl he'd ever loved. And that hadn't even started out as love, more as a sort of twisted amusement. In the end, his obsession with her hadn't even been love at all.

So was that what this was?

This feeling that he could talk to Searadesi better than anyone else he'd ever known?

The way she always knew what he was thinking?

The way she was strong and fragile at the same time?

This incredible urge to protect her at all times?

Was this what love was?

As these thoughts swirled through Kisshu's head, Ichigo watched him with an understandably concerned expression, especially when she said, "Kisshu?" and he didn't answer. She stepped forward and gently shook his shoulder. "Kisshu, I shouldn't have said anything, it's not my business. I'm sorry."

He broke out of his reverie. "No," he said slowly. "No, it's okay. You might be-"

A shuffling noise cut him off, and he and Ichigo in unison turned to see Searadesi standing at the doorway, having just opened the door. Her eyes widened, and Kisshu had a sudden flash of the scene she must be seeing: He and Ichigo, standing closely together, her hand still on his shoulder. A blush washed over Searadesi's cheeks, and before Kisshu couldn't say anything, she forced out, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-to interrupt-"

She turned to leave, but not before Kisshu identified the presence of pained tears filling her eyes.

Kisshu stepped away from Ichigo. "Searadesi-wait-it's not-" The words died on his lips as he realized she was already gone. He stared after her, feeling utterly helpless and confused.

Ichigo touched his arm, and he turned to face her. To his surprise, she was smiling. "Well?" she stated expectantly. He could only look at her, at a loss. She smiled wider and gently shoved his arm. "Go after her, idiot!"

Kisshu looked at her, mouth open, until he realized she was absolutely right. He slowly nodded, and went to the door, picking up speed as he went. He stopped and turned back to Ichigo once more, throwing out a few last words. "Thank you." Then he turned and raced after Searadesi, feeling that nothing was more important that clearing up this misunderstanding. He raced up the stairs and into the main seating area of the café. He could hear, distantly, the voices of the rest of their party, but Searadesi was nowhere in sight. He was on the verge of calling out her name when he noticed the main door of the café was slightly ajar. He pushed through it, stepping out into cool, breezy night air. He looked around. The street was silent save for the peaceful hum of cicadas and the far-off engines of cars. And to his left, dimly lit by the streetlights and walking slowly away from him, was Searadesi.

Her head was bowed, and as he watched, her hand came up to wipe at her face. He called her name. "Searadesi!" She paused, but didn't face him. Instead, she sped up, hurrying down the sidewalk and away from him. Kisshu ran towards her, "Searadesi, wait! Let me explain!"

She ran from him faster. Her tear-choked voice floated back to him. "I'm fine, Kisshu, there's nothing to explain, I know she's what you wanted-"

"Searadesi-"

"That's not something anyone could compete with, just don't blame me because I thought-I thought-" Her voice broke.

He had caught up with her. He reached out and touched her arm, and she stopped, so suddenly he almost crashed into her. Still turned away from him, she said softly, in a calmer voice, "It's okay, Kisshu. Go away."

"Searadesi, damnit, let me explain! There is nothing going on between Ichigo and me!"

She didn't speak, so Kisshu took that as his cue and hurriedly went on. "That was just a misunderstanding, I swear. We were just talking. She has someone she loves, anyway. Besides…" He trailed off, wondering how to continue.

And suddenly, Searadesi, his hand still on her arm, turned to face him. Her violet hair swirled around her face and her eyes, her great starry silver eyes, aglow by the light of the streetlamps, blazed. "Besides?" she repeated, the word a question that held the depth of the sea.

And he understood, in that moment, that he was in love with her.

The realization was a crashing transformation, sweeping through him and leaving his thoughts incoherent. But when it was finished, there was a new, tentative sense of peace.

Kisshu slowly let his hand drop from her arm, staring at her, attempting to gather his thoughts, and simultaneously reveling in this new emotion. It was so much deeper, so much purer than anything he had ever felt for Ichigo. The force of it left him reeling.

She was still looking at him, waiting for an answer. The million things he could have said jammed inside his throat and clogged it, letting only a few words slip through. "Besides…" he began, staring at her. Unbidden, his hand rose, and oh-so tentatively, brushed against her cheekbone. Her mouth fell open softly, her eyes widening.

He felt a flush across his cheeks, but tried again. He wanted her to know, he realized. "Besides…I…feel that way about someone else." His thumb caressed her cheek just below her eye, and she was blushing, too. "Kisshu?" she questioned breathlessly.

With those orb-like eyes piercing his, the words couldn't have felt more right. "I feel that way about you, Searadesi." His voice was low and barely audible, filled with suppressed emotion and uncertainty.

Her eyebrows creased and her lips slightly parted, she looked at him, as if assessing him. Then, slowly, she raised her hand to rest it upon the hand on her cheek and gently twine her fingers with his. She smiled softly. "I feel that way about you, too, Kisshu."

A breath he hadn't realized he had been holding whooshed through Kisshu's lungs. His hand, pressed between the warmth of her palm and the silken touch of her cheek, slipped out of her grip and around her shoulders as he pulled into her into an embrace. Her hands were trapped against his chest and her forehead was tucked below his chin as he wrapped his arms around her and held her securely, a shuddering sense of warm delight filling his heart. "You do?"

She nodded her head against his collarbone, maneuvering her arms to hug him back. "I have for a long time." Her voice was quiet, tentative, shy-yet coursing with a newfound tenderness.

Kisshu drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "I have too," he confessed. "But I…I only just now realized. Partially because of Ichigo." As he spoke, he was aware of a clean, floral scent coming from Searadesi's hair, so close to his face….perhaps lavender? He couldn't place it.

Searadesi was quiet for a moment before pulling back from him somewhat. Her hands still resting on his shoulders and her face close to his, she looked up at him with wide, serious eyes. "You really don't care about her anymore?"

Kisshu didn't answer right away. He wanted to be absolutely certain before replying. Searadesi deserved that much. So he thought, and he searched his mind, not breaking contact with Searadesi's eyes while doing so. And he was overjoyed and satisfied to find the only feelings left for Ichigo in his heart were ones of friendship.

Looking deep into her eyes, he said earnestly and with certainty, "I do not. I care about you."

Her gaze lingered on him a moment longer before she smiled, closed her eyes and leaned forward to rest her forehead against his. "Well, that's good to hear," she said contently.

Her reply surprised a light laugh out of him. The wind brushed against him, chilling him, and he saw a wave of goose-bumps rise up on Searadesi's arms. He pulled back from her and looked at the sky, realizing how late it was. "We'd better get back. Big day tomorrow, and all that."

She nodded, worry crossing her face. He realized that with the revelations of tonight, he was going to be doubly anxious about her tomorrow. "Searadesi, maybe-"

She cut him off, shaking her head. "Save it, Kisshu. We've already talked about this. I need to be there for our best chance of success."

"But-"

She stopped his words by placing her hand over his mouth. "I'll be fine. You're going to be in far greater danger than I am-worry about yourself." And it was clear, from her expression, that _she _was certainly worrying about him.

Kisshu absolutely did not want her there at the scene of the battle tomorrow. In fact, he didn't want her on Earth at all-far better for her to be far away on their planet, safe. But he didn't want to ruin tonight with thoughts of it, so he shoved the matter out of his head for the time being. Her soft hand still pressed over his mouth, he nodded. Then, suddenly feeling mischievous and wanting to lighten the mood, he darted his tongue out.

Her hand flew away instantly. "Did you just _lick _me?" Her expression was comically incredulous. He grinned, fang poking out. "Maybe."

"What are you, ten?" But she was smiling, and that had been his intention. She wiped her now diseased hand against his shirt, laughing, and he caught her hand and held it, twining his fingers through hers. Thoughts of the impending battle gone for now, a sudden elation filled him as everything that had happened tonight struck him again. Letting their connected hands drop to swing between them, he smiled and said, "Let's go back."

She nodded, and, hands still connected, they began to walk back to the café, the twinkling stars the only witnesses to all that had occurred.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE THE LAST. SEE YOU SOON.**


End file.
